


Gone to Texas

by ThatWickedOzian



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Drama, F/F, Lesbians, Other, Texas, southern
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-02 09:34:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11506632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatWickedOzian/pseuds/ThatWickedOzian
Summary: Carmilla is forced to move to Texas. But what happens when she falls for a southern belle?





	1. Southern Belle

**Author's Note:**

> I have never written anything before. And it took me days to write this so I'm not sure how often I'll update but I had this idea for a while and wanted to try and write it.

It's been over 32 hours of driving until I finally made it to Mattie's house. I remember telling Mattie when she decided to move to Texas that it was the worst idea in the whole world. Who wants to live in a place where everyone wears cowboy hats and boots every day? Certainly, not me. Seeing as I don't have much of a choice though, here I am in hell. I drive up the dirt driveway and put my Jeep into park. Letting out a huge sigh, I look into my mirror. "You ready for a new life, Wyatt?" The Coonhound looked at me and wagged his tail. _At least someone is happy._ I get out of my Jeep and stretch and then let Wyatt out to run around. 

"Oh, Carmilla! So lovely that you finally made it!"  
  
I force a slight smile to my sister, "Yeah well, here I am."  
  
Mattie waddles over to me and pulls me into a big hug. "Wow sis, you weren't kidding when you told me you were 5 months pregnant." I joke.  
  
She pulls away and slaps me playfully, "Don't be mean to your future nieces."  
  
"Nieces? As in there are two things in there?" My eyes are huge.  
  
Mattie rolls her eyes, "Yes, I'm having twins. You can at least act like you're excited."  
  
I shrug, "Not big on children."  
  
"Mark my words, as soon as you see them, you'll fall in love with them." She challenges.  
  
"Don't hold your breath." 

"Now Kitty, I know you're not exactly thrilled you had to leave Canada to come live here, but I am very excited to have you here! There's so much to do and the atmosphere and people are so lovely here." She gives me her best smile. I simply nod and work on getting all my boxes out of my car. Mattie heads back into the house and I lean against the car and closed my eyes. _God dammit, why did they have to go…_ Clenching my jaw I grab some boxes and make the trek inside.  


It's a nice sized house, very country though. The outside is painted a dark green, while the windows have a dark red accent and a crème colored trim. I'll never admit it to Mattie, but it's a cute house. "You have two options for your room, you can either live inside here and take the first room on the right, or there's a room above the garage that's much more spacious." Mattie states. I set down my boxes and go to see the room inside first. It's small, but with very high walls and two big windows that look out onto the back porch. I shrug and make my way to the garage. I stride up the stairs and come to this in between room. Nothing is up there but a rug, I guess they don't use this room for anything. I turn the knob on the door and push it open. The garage apartment is a lot more spacious than the house room like Mattie said. It also has two windows, one leads you out onto the roof. I look around and start envisioning where I could put things and I simply nod. This is where I will live.  


I hear something running up the stairs and I look over to see Wyatt standing there. He walks in slowly, sniffing everything and then looks at me. "So bud, what do you think?" He lowers his head and sniffs again before laying on his back and rolling around on the floor. I chuckle slightly. "Alright, you convinced me, this will be our new space." He barks and darts back downstairs. I proceed to unload all my boxes from my car and lug them up to my new room. I place them all in the in between room because this room desperately needs a paint job. Walking back into the house, I find Mattie sitting in the living room with her husband Ryan. 

"Hey Mattie, do you mind if I go get paint to paint upstairs?" I ask, hesitantly.  
  
She smiles at me, "Well of course Kitty! Ryan, do you mind giving Carmilla some money?"  
  
"No Mattie, that's really okay I can pay for it."  
  
"Nonsense! Ryan has a card you can use." Mattie waves me off.  


Ryan stands up and grabs his wallet from his back pocket and hands me a Home Depot card. "Knock yourself out, sis." He smiles warmly at me. I give a slight smile back and take the card from him. I tell Wyatt to stay and not to run off and he goes to lay on the front porch. I get back into my Jeep and use my GPS to help me find Home Depot. Luckily, it's not very far away, only about 15 minutes from Mattie's house (I guess I should start saying my house now.) There's a lot more here than I expected there to be. It's not simply just a small town with nothing in it, it's quite a big community. I take mental notes in my head of places I pass so I can remember where they are later. 

***

After returning home with the paint, I set to work on painting my room. I picked a grey color because it will accent will with my all black furniture. I took me all night to paint seeing as I did it by myself and I had to do two coats. I found myself waking up on the couch in the living room since I had yet to put my bed together last night, and I did not want to breathe in all the paint fumes. After a few more hours, my room was finally coming together. I got all my furniture put together and situated it where I wanted it to go. All and all, I'd say my room is pretty bad ass. 

"My my Kitty, it's very you."  
  
I turn around and see Mattie looking around my room and I smile proudly. "Thanks, Mattie."  
  
She goes and sits on my bed and pats for me to sit beside her. I sit crisscross and look at my sister. "I got you enrolled in the local high school, your first day will be Monday. I know it wasn't ideal with you moving here your senior year, but this school is up there in the rankings and I think you'll do well. Also, I hear they have a lovely art department there." She smiles warmly at me.  
  
I nod my head and force a small smile. "Thanks, Mattie. For everything too." She envelops me into a hug and I hug her back.  
  
"Don't worry Carmilla, I'm always here for you." I keep my tears from falling and straighten myself up. 

Mattie tells me good night and to get plenty of rest since I have school tomorrow. She also went and got me all the supplies I will need as well as some extra supplies for when I have art projects. I pack everything into my black backpack with patches and set it by my door. I fall backward onto my bed and sigh. _Tomorrow is going to suck._

***

I'm awoken by loud music blaring from my phone. I groan and try to find where my phone is. Finally finding it I dismiss the alarm and sigh. I lay back down and look up at my ceiling. _One more year, and then I can make my own schedule and not have to wake up until noon._ I drag myself out of bed and go to my dresser. I pull out black jeans and a black t-shirt, along with black vans and black socks. What can I say, I only own black clothing with the rare occasion of some other colors. I run my fingers through my curls and look in the mirror. _Don't be nervous, you don't give a shit about this place or these people, you're just here to survive the year and go somewhere else. You can do this._ After my pep talk, I grab my things and head out to my Jeep. Wyatt runs over to me from the porch and I kneel down and pet him. "Be good while I'm gone okay?" He licks my cheek and I scratch his head. I get in my Jeep and head towards my new school, Silas High School.

Thankfully, the school is only a 10-minute drive from my house so I can leave late and it probably won't matter. I park in a parking spot and lay my head against the head rest. I glance at the clock and realize I have 20 minutes until the first class starts, but I don't have my schedule. I get out of my car and locked it up and make my way inside the school to the front office. I walked up to the lady working at the front desk. She looks up at me from her computer and smiles.

"Hello! What can I do for you?"  
  
"Uh hi, I just moved here and I don't have my class schedule."  
  
"Okay, what is your name, dear?"  
  
"Carmilla Karnstein."  


She smiles and looks back to her computer and is typing away. After a minute, she stands up and walks to the printer to retrieve my papers. She lays them on the table and shows me how it works. "So, here we do this system called block scheduling. Basically, you'll have 4 classes one day and 4 different ones the next. It's easy to remember since they're called Red and White days. On red days you'll go to classes 1, 3, 5, and 7. And on White days you'll go to 2, 4, 6, and 8. Make sense?"  


I nod at her and she continues. "So today is a Red day, and your first class is Math, which is in room C105. Our hallways are divided up by A, B, C, and D. 100's are downstairs and 200's are upstairs. Oh, here's a map in case you get lost." She hands me all the papers and smiles at me. "If you need any help you can always come back here and I'll have someone assist you."  


"Thank you." My ears perk up at the sound of a bell. I take that as my cue to go and find my first class. Luckily for me, each hall has a giant letter marking which hall it was so I don't have to use this stupid map. I found C105 and go to sit in the back corner. Hopefully, no one will bother me. Unfortunately, I was not so lucky. 

"Hey there, little hottie!" A tall boy makes his way over and sits beside me. "You must be new here because I would definitely remember you." He smiles big at me.  
  
I roll my eyes and look at the boy. "I'm going to stop you right there, beefcake. You're not my type."  
  
Unfazed, he continues to smile at me. "So, you're a lesbian? That's great! I'm Kirsch by the way."  
  
I furrow my eyebrows. "Not usually the reaction I get, but I'll take it. I'm Carmilla."  
  
"Nice to meet you, Carmilla! Where are you from?"  
  
"Canada."  
  
"Wow, must be quite the change from Texas."  
  
"You have no idea," I answered dryly.  
  
The bell rings again, signaling that class should start. "Well hey, I am throwing a party this Friday night. You should come! Lots of cute girls will be there." He winks at me.  
  
"I'll think about it," I reply and turn my attention towards the teacher. 

***

So the rest of my schedule looks like this:  
**Red:**  
1- Math  
3- Government  
5- Art II Drawing  
7- Early Release

 

**White:**  
2- Anatomy  
4- English  
6- Art II Painting  
8- Early Release

Seeing as when I transferred I had a lot of extra classes, I get to leave early every day while still taking two art classes. The rest of the day went by smoothly seeing as no one else talked to me in my classes. Kirsch found me sitting alone outside and forced me to go and sit with him and his friends. All guys by the way. They were nice, though I didn't say much. I mostly kept my face in my book, but it was nice of him to try and include me. I can see him as being someone I want to have as a friend, which says a lot coming from me. I mostly stick to myself, you don't get hurt when you don't let anyone in. 

***

Before I knew it, I survived my first week at Silas High. Aside from Kirsch, I got paired with this dorky red head named Lafontaine in my anatomy class. They told me that they prefer "they/them" pronouns and I told them that was perfectly fine. They are very smart and they told me that they'll help me get an A in anatomy so that's lovely. It was Friday night and when I was leaving school I hear Kirsch yelling at me to wait up. I stop and turn around to look at him.

"Hey, Carm-sexy. You're coming to my party tonight, right?"  
  
"Sure thing, beefcake. Where is it at?"  
  
He pulls out his phone and hands it to me. "Here, put your number in here and I'll text you the address!"  
  
I type in my number and call myself from his phone. He smiles and re-pockets his phone. "See ya later, bro!" Then he takes off towards his giant pickup truck. 

No later than a minute and I feel my phone vibrate. Kirsch already texting me the address and what time I should show up. I get in my Jeep and head towards my house.

 ***

It's almost 8. Kirsch told me to show up anytime after 8 so I decided now would be a good time to get ready. I took a shower in the house and basically ran outside to my room. _I have got to build a shower out here._ I go into my closet and am looking at my almost all black wardrobe. I settle on black skinny jeans, a black lacy top, and my black leather vest, as well as my black biker boots. _Speaking of bikes, I should invest in one._ I look myself over in the mirror while I'm latching my leather cuffs and nod approvingly. I set out to my Jeep and put in Kirsch's location into my GPS.

The party is in full swing by the time I arrived. People are literally everywhere (Kirsch lives on a lot of land.) I get out of my Jeep and walk into the house with my hands in my pockets. I look around to see if I can see Kirsch, but I found Lafontaine instead with another red headed girl. Lafontaine must have seen me too because they're waving for me to come over to them. I sigh and push through people in order to get over there. 

"Hey, Carmilla! I wasn't sure if you were going to come tonight!" Lafontaine says.  
  
"Yeah well, Beefcake invited me so I came."  
  
"Nice! Oh sorry, this is Perry." They gesture towards the red head beside them.  
  
"It's nice to meet you Carmilla." Perry smiles at me.  
  
"It's nice to meet you as well." I force a smile back.  
  
"Carm-sexy! You're here!" I hear Kirsch yell as he's making his way over to me.  
  
"You wanted me here beefcake, I told you I would come."  
  
He wraps his arm around my shoulder and ushers me away from Lafontaine and Perry. "I'm going to borrow her for a sec." He tells them as he's leading me towards the kitchen. "You want a drink?"  
  
I shake my head. "No thanks, I'm not much of a drinker."

He nods and leads me outside instead to where a lot of people were. Kirsch's house is pretty amazing. He has a pool in his back yard, with a hot tub. There seems to be outside storage units, which he later explained was more like a game room and extra sleeping space for people. There was also a tree house in the very back where no one seemed to be. 

"Bro, there's someone I want you to meet." Kirsch starts walking me towards a girl.  
  
The girl smiles at me and is obviously very drunk. "This is Elsie, Elsie this is Carmilla." Kirsch smiles proudly.  
  
"Carmilla. Wow, that's sexy." The girl giggles and looks at me.  
  
"Uh, thanks."  
  
"I'll leave y'all to it then," Kirsch smirks and walks away before I can object.  
  
I roll my eyes and walk to sit on a chair by the pool. Elsie walks over and is basically sitting on my lap. "You're so pretty, why have I never seen you before?"  
  
"I just moved here," I reply dryly.  
  
"Lucky me to break you in huh?" 

She tries to kiss me and I push her away. She huffs and I try to ignore her, but she won't stop touching me. "Come on, I know I'm hot. You can do whatever you want to me." She slurs. I tell her no but she won't take no for an answer. I guess she's not used to not getting her way. It wasn't until I felt her hand cup my center I about almost lost it. I all but push her off and away from me before I start walking back into the house. I find Lafontaine and Perry again and they can see my annoyance.  


"Woah there, you okay?"  
  
"Kirsch decided to try to hook me up with some girl I know nothing about and now she won't leave me alone." I sigh frustratingly.  
  
"Carmilla! Where did you go?!" I hear Elsie yell and I duck behind Lafontaine and Perry.  
  
Perry looks at me and smiles softly. "Don't worry dear, I'll distract her and you make your escape.  
  
Perry walks over to Elsie and starts talking to her and makes her turn around to walk into the kitchen. "I guess Perry convinced her that she saw you in the kitchen." Lafontaine chuckles. "You might want to go somewhere else for a while." I nod and head back outside. 

Once I'm outside, I head towards the back of the property. I spy the tree house again and decided it was a good place to hid from Elsie for a while. I climb up the wooden ladder and make it to the top of the tree house. It's a nice size, even as a teenager I can stand up without having to hunch over. I look around the tree house at all the older rusted signs and posters that were hung up. I walk out onto the porch of the tree house and take a seat on the floor. I sigh and lay on my back to look up at the stars. I hear footsteps and close my eyes. _If it's fucking Elsie, I am going home._ "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize anyone else was up here. It's okay, I'll just go."  


My eyes snap open at the angelic voice I heard. I sit up and look over and the mysterious person. I could have died right then and there. Beautiful girl, almost the same height as me. Long, honey brown hair with a slight wave to it. Wearing an adorable giraffe print shirt and blue jeans.  


"No, no you're fine," I reply fast.  
  
She smiles slightly at me. "I haven't seen you before. What is your name?" She questions, with a slight southern accent to her voice. It sounds lovely.  
  
"I just moved here about a week ago, I'm Carmilla." I stand up to be face to face with her.  
  
Her smile becomes larger and she nods at me while sticking out her hand. "It's nice to meet you Carmilla. My name is Laura."


	2. Cupcake

_She smiles slightly at me. "I haven't seen you before. What is your name?" She questions, with a slight southern accent to her voice. It sounds lovely._

_"I just moved here about a week ago, I'm Carmilla." I stand up to be face to face with her._

_Her smile becomes larger and she nods at me while sticking out her hand. "It's nice to meet you Carmilla. My name is Laura."_

I smile slightly and extend my hand out to shake hers. _Wow her hands are soft._ We release each other’s hands and she looks at me. “Mind if I sit with you?” She asks hesitantly. I shake my head no and sit back down on the porch. She walks over and sits beside me, leaving a few feet between us.

“Where did you move here from?”

“Canada.”

“Oh wow! What is it like up there?” She looks at me excitedly.

I shrug and look at my shoes. “Cold, very cold. It was beautiful though,” I smile softly to myself at the memories I have. When I get to the most recent ones and shake my head slightly.

“You miss it there, don’t you?”

I look over at her and her eyes were so genuine like she actually seems to care about my feelings. I learned a long time ago though, no one really cares about how I feel. I simply nod my head to answer her question.

She looks up towards the sky, “Well, maybe eventually you’ll learn to like it here. We don’t get snow as much as y’all do up there, it doesn’t even get that cold down here. And the heat is sometimes unbearable. You walk 10 steps outside to your car and you’re already drenched in sweat.” She laughs softly. “But I’ve lived here my whole life and it’s treated me well, for the most part.” She looks over at me and smiles.

I return the smile and we both look back up towards the star lit sky. Neither one of us says another word, there’s no need to. Even though I just met her, I’ve never been this comfortable in silence before. She must feel it too since the smile on her face has not faltered. 

I chance a glance over at this girl and I notice her eyes are closed, so I take that as my opportunity to really look at her. And oh my is she a beauty. Her skin looks like it glowing from her southern tan. And the way her hair is flowing slightly from the breeze blowing in, makes it seem like she’s almost not real. I look down to her giraffe shirt and her jeans, and she makes it look so simple yet so attractive. I don’t think I’ve even been this attracted to a girl in my life, and that’s really saying something. Even my last girlfr-, let’s not go there. Not yet, it’s too soon. My eyes travel back up to her face and her eyes are looking into mine. She smiles at me and I look away, trying to hide the blush forming on my cheeks. She goes to say something when we hear someone yelling from the distance. 

“Laura? Where are you?” 

“Oh crap! Uh, sorry but I have to go.” She starts to get up and I stand up with her, “Um, thank you for letting me sit up here with you.” She smiles slightly at me.

I smile back at her, “Yeah, no problem.”

“Bye, Carmilla.” She waves and leaves the treehouse.

I let out a big sigh and lean against the treehouse. _Well, I’m probably fucked._

***

Sunday afternoon rolled around and I have basically spent it reading. I hear a knock on my door and I bookmark my book. Mattie walks in and sits at the foot of my bed. 

“What are you doing, kitty?” 

I pick up my book and jiggle it slightly, “Just been reading.”

Mattie nods her head and points to the book, “I know you don’t need a job, or money for that matter, but the town book store is hiring part time. Maybe you’d want to apply?”

I think about it and nod my head, “Not a terrible idea.”

She smiles brightly, feeling accomplished and pats my leg. As she was leaving she stops in the doorway, “I know there isn’t a shower up here, but you’re more than welcome to build one. I know you can be quite crafty.”

“Thanks, Mattie, I’ll probably start that project soon.”

Mattie leaves and I look up at my ceiling. I sit up and stretch out my muscles and run my fingers through my hair. I take Mattie’s advice and grab my keys to head to the local book store. I walk through the door and a dinging noise goes off. I see an older woman poke her head out from behind the counter and smile at me.

“Well hello there young lady! How can I help you?”

I approach the counter and form a smile, “My sister told me you needed someone part-time and I was hoping I could apply for the job.” 

Her smile becomes bigger, “Yes we are! Although, I’m surprised someone of your age would want to work here, most kids around here work at the movies or restaurants, not book shops.”

I shrug and look around the store, “Books always gave me comfort. They can transport you to whichever world you want to be in. It’s almost like an escape from reality. If I want to get away from whatever is going on in my life, I can pick up a book and just go. It’s quite amazing, the power of books.” 

The woman looked at me in amazement, “Well sweetheart, you got the job. That’s the best answer I have ever heard about books.”

“It’s just my honest opinion, but thank you for hiring me, I won’t let you down.” 

“Also, my name is Sue, what’s yours, dear?”

“Carmilla, ma’am.” 

“Well, Carmilla, you can start Wednesday!”

***

After leaving the bookstore I went back to Home Depot to get supplies to start building my shower. The men working in the lumber section kept giving me weird looks, like they didn’t expect me to know what I was doing. Which was great when I completely showed them all up. I had to buy a lot of wood and polyurethane as well as screws. Luckily, Ryan has a power drill and a power saw so that saved me a lot of money. As soon as I got home I set to work to figure out how to build this. I measured out the space and made the layout big enough to be able to walk in. I also marked where the drain pipe will go as well as the pipes for the water. The whole planning process took the rest of the night, drawing blueprints is a lot of fun for me. I glance at my clock and groan loudly. 12:08 am. I switch my lamp off and fall into my bed, the last thing I think about has been the same since Friday night. A certain girl named Laura. 

I wake up in a panic. 8:03 am. _Fuck, I’m late!_ I jump out of bed and run into my closet. I grab my moon phases shirt and my black jeans and throw them on my body. I slip my vans on and am running out the door. I get into my Jeep and speed off towards Silas High. I get to the school right as 2nd period is ending. I lock up my Jeep and walk towards my English class. I get in my seat and lay my head down. Maybe the teacher will let me sleep. Right as I was dozing off, I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I ignore it and try to fall back asleep, except the tapping continues. I groan and sit up, “What?” I growl. “Someone is in a cheerful mood I see.” 

That voice. My face relaxes and I slowly turn my head towards that voice. The girl smiles at me and takes the seat next to me. 

“I didn’t know you were in my English class.” She says and she pulls out her books.

“Probably because I sit in the back of all classes and leave as soon as it’s over.”

She nods her head and pulls out her pencils, “Well, I hope you don’t mind me sitting by you.” She smiles at me.

I shake my head and form a small smile, “Not at all.”

The bell rings and I lean back against my chair. If I wasn’t good at English before, I certainly won’t be any better at it now that she’s going to be sitting beside me. You’d think with all the reading I do I would be pretty good at English, but I am utterly terrible. I scrunch up my face as the teacher goes on and on about Shakespeare. I shake my head and give up on trying to follow along. Instead, I start doodling on my notebook paper, mindlessly drawing random patterns and designs. Before I knew it, the bell was ringing, signaling class was over. 

“Wow, Carmilla, that look’s really cool!”

I look back at my paper, “Oh this? It’s nothing special.” I shrug.

She picks up the paper to better inspect it, “I could never do anything like this. Do you mind if I keep it? If not it’s totally okay. I understand we just met and you may not like me asking for it but it just looks so cool and-”

“Woah, slow down there, cutie. You can keep it.” I cut her off. It took me a minute to realize I called her cutie but I tried to play it off. She blushed and tucked the paper neatly in her binder.

“Thank you. I’ll see you later, Carmilla.” She smiles and leaves the classroom.

I sling my backpack over my shoulder and make my way out the classroom.

It’s finally time for my painting class. Painting is not an art form that I am particularly great at. I prefer to draw my pictures and leave them simple with just shading. I feel like sometimes color can ruin a good picture. So since I started this class, I only use white and black paints and will mix them to make different shades of gray for whatever the assignment may be. My teacher doesn’t really approve of my color schemes, but I refuse to use any other colors. Perry is in my painting class with me. After Laf introduced us at the party on Friday, Perry started sitting with me at my table. It’s a small art class, only about 15 of us in here so you could basically have your own table, which I did until Perry sat with me. But I must admit, I do enjoy her company. She gets so animated in her work and she’ll do most of the talking, which is fine by me. She’ll go on and on about whatever she’s working on or some recipe she is trying to crack. The girl is crafty, let me tell you, and she’s a phenomenal painter. She’ll use every single color of the rainbow in her work and it always turns out amazing. Her work has even been featured in a local art gallery in town, she’ll definitely be something someday. 

***

I didn’t feel like going home after school today so instead, I decided to do some more exploring of the town. As I was driving down a strip center, something caught my eye. I noticed a big Wonder Woman logo, as well as other superhero logos in the window of a store called “Space Cadets.” I pulled into a spot and got out of the car. The door dinged when I walked in and I noticed not many people were in the store. _Probably because it’s only 2 in the afternoon._ The store is quite large and they have every fandom you could think of. I saw things from Futurama to Superman to anime. You name it, they had it. This store is a big geek fest, and I love it. They have rows and rows of comic books as well as shelves full of figurines and plushies. A middle aged woman comes from around the corner and smiles at me. 

“Hello! Can I help you find anything?”

“Maybe you can, I want to get into a new fandom but I’m not sure what I’d enjoy.”

She nods her head, “Well, what kind of things do you like?”

I ponder for a moment, “I like sci-fi, and I like strong female characters. Things that keep me interested in reading or watching.”

She smiles and curls her finger in a ‘follow me’ motion. I follow her and she leads me over to a section of the comic books and picks up one. 

“The comic has a female lead, who is a total badass and kills demons. Always will leave you wanting more.” She hands it to me and I take it and read the cover. 

“Wynonna Earp? I’ll give it a try.”

She rings up my total and told me once I finished it to come back and let her know if I enjoyed it. I promised her I would and left the comic book shop. 

Upon getting home, I started reading the comic. It’s very good. Like so good. I have a feeling I will easily be sucked into this. Wynonna is such a badass and takes no shit from anybody. And she has a big ass gun that sends demons back to hell. She has a sister named Waverly who is just as cute as a button. Her character kind of reminds me of Laura. _Laura._ It’s only been a few days and only a few interactions and already I am smitten with this girl. I just want to learn more about her. Maybe I will get the chance to. 

***

Wednesday rolls around and I find myself making it to school on time today. I go to anatomy class and I asked Laf if I missed anything important. They hand me their very detailed notes and I thank them greatly and begin copying the notes into my own notebook. We discussed the human bones and we’ll be having a practical over all the bones in the body. Laf said I could go to their house and we could study for it, they’re a great friend. 

In English class, Laura sat beside me again, which made me happy. From observing Laura, she is very studious. She’s always listening attentively to the teacher and is always scribbling down notes and asking a million questions. It’s quite charming. I smile to myself and do what I always do in English, tune the teacher out and doodle. Laura asked for my drawing again and I gave it to her and she skipped off to her next class. I just laugh and shake my head slightly.

After school, I drove to the bookstore. It’s my first day to work and surprisingly, I’m not nervous at all. I mean it’s a bookstore, how hard could it be? Stack books, read books, check out books, fairly simple things to do. I walk into the shop and smile at Sue.

“Carmilla! You ready for your first day?” Sue asks me, excitedly.

“Yes, ma’am. What do you need for me to do?”

She walks towards the back of the store and leads me into a back room, “We just got in a bunch of new books that need to be priced and shelved. Can you price the books and the shelf them?”

I nod my head and got to work on pricing the books. I priced over a hundred of books and shelved them where they needed to go. Sue kept telling me how fortunate she was to have me because it was getting harder for her to shelf some of those books. She’s a talker and was telling me about some stories in her life. She met her husband on a blind date when she was 16. They went to a sock hop and afterward, he walked her home and they sat on her front porch and just talked for hours. She said it was after that moment that she knew he was the one for her. But soon he was shipped off to the war and they did not communicate or see each other for almost 8 years. Then one day she was at the grocery store and she ran into him again and they fall back into love with each other. And they’ve been married for almost 50 years now. After hearing that story, it gave me hope that I’ll find my soulmate someday. 

After my shift was over I helped Sue lock up the bookstore. She gives me a hug goodbye and told me she would see me on Friday. I waved bye to her and got into my Jeep and headed home. When I pulled up the driveway I saw Wyatt’s head perk up from the porch. I got out of the car and he ran over to me and jumped up on me.

“Woah bud, you wanna go for a walk?”

He barked at me and I attached his leash and started walking behind the house. Ryan’s parents own a lot of land and so he lives on a few acres of their land. There is a patch of woods back there and a dirt trail so I started walking Wyatt back there. Since he’s a Coonhound he likes to smell everything. Luckily for me, it’s October so it’s not that hot out and it’s also later in the evening. He picked up something and was almost dragging me toward whatever he was smelling. I see the trees become less dense and he walked us out into another open field. It wasn’t much, mostly just flat and with grass, I wonder if in the spring flowers bloom out here. I let him off his leash so he could run around and I just laid on my back and looked up at the sky. 

Where I lived in Canada was north of Toronto. It was about half an hour from the city so the only stars you could see were the big dipper and a few other stars. But out here, there were so many stars. I have never seen a sky this lit up before. It’s beautiful. 

I heard Wyatt bark and so I sat up to see where he was. He dashed off back onto a different path and was barking the whole time. I cursed under my breath and took off after him. I was yelling his name and telling him to slow the fuck down. I finally caught up to him and grabbed him by his collar.

“Buddy, you can’t just take off like that.”

He continued barking and I looked up and I understood why. Wyatt was smelling a German Shepherd and he was trying to get to him. The German Shepherd finally noticed Wyatt and ran over to us. The dogs sniffed each other and then began to play with one another. 

“Zeke! Where did you go?”

My head turns to look over at the voice I heard. I don’t think I could ever forget that voice. I see a pajama clad Laura running over and slowing her pace when she see’s her dog. Her eyes meet mine and I can’t help the smile that escapes my lips. 

“Carmilla? What are you doing here?”

“Well, looks like my dog smelled your dog from a mile away.”

She looks over at Wyatt and kneels down to pet him, “That’s impressive, what’s his name?” 

“His name is Wyatt. I’m assuming the German Shepherd is yours?”

“Zeke is technically my dad’s dog, but I basically take care of him.” She shrugs, “So yes, I’ll say he’s mine.” She laughs slightly.

I smile at her, “Well, he sure is pretty.” _Just like his owner._ “Do you live near here?” I ask her.

She nods and points over towards a house in the distance, “Yep, I live right over there. I’m guessing you live close by as well?”

“Yes, just through the woods there, I’d say a little over a mile walk.”

She smiles brightly at me, “We’re practically neighbors.”

I smile back at her and I hear a voice traveling from her house.

Her smile falters and she whistles for Zeke to go to her, “That’s my dad, I better get going.”

I nod understandingly and grab Wyatt’s leash, “I’ll see you later, Cupcake.” 

She looks at me with her eyebrows furrowed, “Cupcake?”

I smirk and gesture to her pajamas. She looks down and notices her pajama bottoms have cupcakes all over them. She blushes a dark shade of red, “Forgot I was wearing this… That’s not embarrassing.” She laughs sheepishly. 

“It’s quite cute actually.” She blushes more at my compliment and I hear her name being yelled from a distance.

“Well, see you later, Carmilla.” She smiles and leads Zeke back to her house.

I smile a big smile once she leaves and start taking Wyatt back to the house. Laughing to myself about Laura in cupcake pajamas.


	3. Reading is Fundamental

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know this is wicked late, I've just been busy with getting ready for school and just life, in general, has been a little crazy. But here's chapter 3! I know where I want this story to go, so bear with me if it seems slow, I have some great ideas! If y'all want to get in contact with me or maybe have an idea for the story, I'd be happy to hear it! 
> 
> Twitter: www.twitter.com/thatwickedozian
> 
> Tumblr: https://thatwickedozian.tumblr.com/

It’s Friday and I’m sitting with Laf in anatomy class. They’re going on about some science experiment they did with Perry and how they “accidentally” made the experiment explode and Perry was frantic trying to clean up the mess. They found it quite comical. Ever since I met Laf, I noticed how they act around the other ginger. They get wicked bashful and you can tell by the look on their face that they are completely mesmerized by Perry. I took this as my opportunity to poke some fun at Laf. 

 

“So, when are you going to tell her?”

Laf looks at me confused, “Tell who what?”

I smirk at them, “Tell Perry that you like her.”

They blush hard and hide their face from me, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Oh come on, it’s blatant that you like her.”

They sigh and look at me, “I’ve known Perr since we were kids. And to be honest, I’ve always liked her. I guess I’m just afraid of getting rejected? Or making things awkward between her and me? I don’t know. I’d rather have her as my friend than not at all.” 

I nod understandingly, “I get what you’re saying, but sometimes you need to take risks. You don’t want someone else to snatch her up before you do, right?” They shake their head hard, “And to be honest, she talks about you all the time in art class.”

Their head perks up and they have the biggest smile, “You fucking with me, Karnstein?”

I shake my head and smile at them, “Nope, she really does. It’s quite annoying.” I smirk. 

Laf’s smile didn’t fade for the rest of the class period. 

***

I’m sitting in the usual seat in English and I have my headphones in, listening to a little Pierce the Veil. I noticed someone move beside me taking their seat and I see that it’s Laura. I smile to myself and take my headphones out, wrapping them up and slipping them in my backpack. 

 

“Good morning, Cupcake.” 

She groans and looks over at me, “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

I smirk and shrug, “Probably not.”

She rolls her eyes but has a playful smile on her face. 

 

The bell rings and our teacher starts talking about sentence structure and the proper way to form a sentence and I probably have the blankest expression on my face. A sentence is a sentence as long as it gets the point across in my book. I roll my eyes and take my headphones back out and listen to Wolf & Bear. I wonder what kind of music Laura listens to. Probably nothing even close to the music I listen to. My music taste can range from classical music to very hard rock music. I don’t listen to the radio ever so most of my music I find on YouTube or Spotify/Pandora that is related to a band I already like. Or you can always go to Warped Tour and discover a bunch of new bands. I lay my head down on my desk and must have dozed off because the next thing I knew I’m being shaken. I sit up with my eyes squinted and try to let my eyes adjust to the light. I take my headphones out and look at the culprit who woke me up.

 

“I fell asleep.”

She laughed and looked down at me, “That much is obvious.”

I stretch and grab my backpack, “Well, thanks for waking me up, Creampuff.”

She raises an eyebrow at me, “Okay, where did that one come from?”

I shrug and smirk, “I can’t keep calling you Cupcake, I have to keep you on your toes.”

“Or you know, you could just call me Laura.”

I shake my head and smile, “That’s too easy.”

I make my way out of the classroom, smirk still plastered on my face. 

***

I make it to my painting class and Perry is already working on her painting. I walk up behind her and observe her work. She’s painting a vast landscape with rolling hills in the distance. There’s also a girl sitting in the lower left-hand corner of the painting and she’s holding a stuffed animal rabbit. You can’t see the girls face, but it looks as if she facing the vast openness of the field in front of her. Perry’s attention to detail still astounds me. 

 

“This looks nice, Betty Crocker.”

Perry jumps slightly and turns around and smiles at me, “It’s not done yet, but thank you.”

 

I nod and sit in front of my blank canvas; it’s been blank for days. Our teacher is older and kind of a pushover so when she walks by and asks me, “Carmilla, why haven’t you done anything?” I reply back, “I’m thinking of something I want to do.” And she walks away every time. Not that I’m even lying about it either. It’s not that I don’t want to draw or paint anything, the thing is I have absolutely no idea what to do. This is a major project that’s due by the end of the year that we need to slowly work on over the year and I have no clue what to paint. I go to start something and then end up hating the idea and crumbling up the paper I sketched it on. I glance around the classroom at other people's paintings, hoping to find some sort of inspiration. I noticed a boy has his canvas mapped out in an old 20’s style cartoon drawing. Another girl’s canvas has all abstract objects. Another has circles around parts of the drawing and is only adding color to those parts of the canvas. I sigh and pull out my sketch book and stare at the blank piece of paper. 

It’s never been this hard for me to come up with an idea for a project. I’ve been known to bullshit my projects last minute and come out with a fairly good grade. But for whatever reason, I want this one to matter. I want this piece to be the best thing I have ever done. I must have zoned out too much because my thoughts were disrupted by the bell ringing. I pack up my art supplies and tell Perry goodbye. Maybe this weekend I’ll find some inspiration.

***

After school, I pull up the bookshop ready for another shift. This job is one of the most laid back jobs I have ever had. Well, it’s the only job I’ve ever had, but that’s not important. Sue has me shelving new books still since on Wednesday we got a lot of them. We also get donated books sometimes and I like going through those because some people make notes in their books or highlight sentences and it’s interesting to see what stuck out to them and made them want to make that part of the book stand out. I hear the bell chime and a mother and her son walked in. The boy looks to be about 11 or 12 maybe but he does not look impressed to be here. His mother is looking around the store and he’s groaning and rolling his eyes every chance he keeps. He finds our reading section and plops down on the couch and pulls his phone out. I wheel the cart of books over near him to shelf and I can hear him talking to himself. 

 

“This is so stupid. I hate reading. Why read something when we have technology that can do it for us?” She rolls his eyes yet again and is playing a game on his phone. “Reading is for nerds and losers.”

I fight the urge to slap this kid. I grab a book off the cart and take a seat directly across from this boy. He glances up at me and then goes back to his phone, but I don’t take my eyes off of him. He looks back up and rolls his eyes, 

“What do you want?”

“I want you to fix your awful attitude.”

He scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Yeah, okay. You’re not my mom so leave me alone.”

I clench my jaw. Reasons I don’t like children number 243, “What do you have against books?”

He furrows his eyebrows and glares at me, “They’re dumb, that’s all there is to it.”

“Well, have you ever read one?” I question.

“Obviously I have, but I don’t anymore because I can just watch tv.”

I nod my head, “Have you ever thought of reading a book being like a movie, but it’s all in your head?” That got him intrigued.

He set his phone in his lap, “What do you mean?”

I held up a book, “Well when you read, you’re in control in a way. Books give you a brief description of the characters in the book, so however you envision them, that’s how they will look to you. You can even picture yourself as the main character and the story will be better because you’re the hero.”

He cocks his head sideways, trying to understand what I’m talking about, “So if the book has a boy with brown hair, he could easily look like me?”

I smile slightly and nod, “If that’s how you want him to look. It’s rather neat actually. In books, they are so descriptive of the setting of the book, and there’s not just one way to look at it. The way you view a small apartment may be entirely different than how I see it. Your mind makes up what you read, and if you give it a chance, it really is just like watching a movie, but all in your head.”

He thinks about what I said and nods, “So, what book do you have in mind for me?”

I hand him the book I was holding, “This was one of the first books that I read that I actually enjoyed. Just like you, I wasn’t a big reader growing up, but this book changed all that for me. I’ve read the entire series at least twice now. And I think it’s right up your alley.” 

He takes the book and reads the cover, “The Lightning Thief?”

“It’s about a boy, roughly your age, who learns he’s more special than he thought. He discovers he is half God, half human, and has to figure out all his abilities while battling monsters across America and becoming a teenager.” 

The boy smiles softly and admires the artwork on the cover. His mother walks over and raises an eyebrow at her son, “You actually touched a book, Jake?” 

I look up at his mom and motions to me, “She convinced me to read this book.”

His mother gives me a surprised look and smiles at me, “Wow, that’s wonderful. Well, let’s go pay and we can leave.”

They walk to the counter while Sue is checking them out. Before they walk out the store, Jake looks back at me, “I’ll let you know if I like the book or not next time my mom takes me here.”

I smile at him and nod, “I look forward to hearing about it.”

He smiles back at me and leaves the store. 

 

The rest of my shift was quiet, and since it was Friday Sue said I could go home early. I check my phone and see I have a message from Kirsch about another party. I contemplate going and check my other messages and see Laf also wanted me to go to the party. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to make an appearance. I change my shirt into my black v neck and drive to Kirsch’s house. 

The party was already in full swing when I got there, which doesn’t surprise me. I texted Laf and told them I was here and they said them and Perry are in the back. I trek my way to the back yard and find Laf sitting very close to Perry. I smirk and takes a seat near them.

 

“Carmilla! Glad you could make it!” 

“Sure thing, brainiac.” They smile at me and I glance over at Perry then back to them. They just roll their eyes but have a small smile on their lips. I give them a thumbs up and glance around the party. I didn’t realize these many people went to our school, assuming these are just people from school. Back at my old school, I didn’t exactly go out a lot. I mostly stayed to myself and hung out in my room. Not that I didn’t have any friends because I did, I just wasn’t much of a socialite. I went to a few parties at home and I never understood what the hype about them was. If I had the choice to stay at home and read a book or play video games with friends, I chose that then went to parties and get plastered. Yeah, call me boring, but I have way more fun at home. 

 

“Carm-sexy!” Kirsch saunters over and takes a seat next to me, “You came!”

“As always, Beefcake.”

“So, Elsie is looking for you,” He wiggles his eyebrows at me.

I groan, “No, I don’t like her, I don’t want to see her or talk to her.”

He furrows his eyebrows at me, “Bro, are you serious? She’s one of the hottest girls at school, who also wants to fuck you, and you’re seriously going to pass on that?” 

I give him a look, “Yes, I’m going to pass on that. This may come as a shock for people of our generation, but I don’t want to have sex just to have sex.”

He tilts his head, “Well, your loss then!” Then he stands up and goes to greet more people. 

I roll my eyes and sit back onto the chair.

“Hey, you okay, Carmilla?”

“Yeah, just parties aren’t really my thing.” I shrug.

“We can leave if you want? We can go do something!” Laf exclaims. 

I think it over and look towards Laf and Perry, “Do you guys like video games?”

Laf all but jumps out of the chair, “Fuck yes, I love video games!”

I shake my head laughing, “Well, we can go to my house, I have quite the collection.”

Laf looks at Perry, “You coming, Perr?”

Perry smiles and stands up, “Sure, let’s go.”

 

I stand up and lead them over towards my Jeep. While we were walking through the house to get to my car, I noticed a familiar shade of honey brown hair. Laura glances over and sees me and gives me a small smile. I return the smile and send a slight wave before walking out the door. I unlock my Jeep and we all pile in and take off in the direction of my house.

***

“FUCK YOU CARMILLA.” 

I giggle and continue to push Laf’s character off the edge.

“DUDE WHY DO YOU KEEP KILLING ME?”

“Because it’s hilarious.”

They huf and toss the controller on the floor and grumble under their breath. 

“Laf, it’s only Mario Kart, don’t take it so seriously.” I laugh. 

“Yeah easy for you to say, you keep cheating!” 

I shrug, “I’m just good at old school Mario Kart. That’s why I always- what the hell?!”

My character gets shot by a red shell right before I’m about to cross over the finish line. I see Peach fly by me and win the game. I squint my eyes and look over at Perry. Perry has the biggest smile on her face and is so proud of herself that I can’t even be mad at her.

“Look’s like you’re not the only person good at old school Mario Kart,” Laf exclaims. 

“Yeah yeah, now, who’s up for Mario Party?”

I take Mario Kart out of the Nintendo 64 and put in Mario Kart. We pick out our characters and start playing on DK’s Jungle. I glance over at my friends and a realization hits me. I have friends. Not that back in Canada I didn’t, but they were more of acquaintances than friends. I didn’t see them outside of school. Mostly because I didn’t care to see them outside of school. I like being by myself and not having to worry about keeping up friendships. But having Laf and Perry here, it’s comforting in a way. I feel accepted and I actually enjoy their company. I like playing games with them and just laughing along with them. Maybe the move here was a good thing after all.


	4. Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been like a month and I'm terribly sorry. School started up and then we had hurricane Harvey come in, then I got a job. Lot's of stuff haha. But I made myself sit down and write this!I Hopefully y'all like it. 
> 
> Also, this may have some trigger warning of harassment.

It’s been a few weeks since the night Laf, Perry and I all gathered at my house and played video games. What’s funny is that it’s actually started to become a tradition on Friday nights. Around 6 o’clock, Laf and Perry show up at my house with brownies and other baked goods, while I already went out and picked up food (varies every week) and everyone’s favorite drink. And I have to admit, I love it. I look forward to it every week and it’s when I can let my walls down (well, most of them) and just have fun with my friends. 

They get along great with Wyatt too, but I’ve never met someone who didn’t like him. Perry was apprehensive about him at first because he is such a big dog, but now she is obsessed with him and even brings him bones and dog treats. Wyatt is always cuddling up to Perry and I just know it eats Laf up.

Although, this Friday won’t be exactly how it’s been since it’s Halloween. Laf insists that we all go to Kirsch’s party for just a little while and then we could come back here and watch scary movies. I told them that’s fine but I wouldn’t be dressing up and Perry all but had a heart attack. Last week she dragged me to a Halloween shop and made me find a costume. After hours of pestering, I finally figured out what I could be and she was over the moon about it. The things I do for my friends. It’s not that I don’t like Halloween, it’s actually my favorite holiday. I just like fucking with Perry and being difficult. I find it quite hilarious to see her get all flustered and annoyed. 

We all met up at my house to get ready for the party. Laf is going as a mad scientist (shocker) and Perry is going as Betty Crocker. (I convinced her that it would be a fitting costume and she agreed.) Perry will also be giving out brownies throughout the night which makes it even better. I put the fake gun in my boot and turn around and face them, “Ready to go, queer-squad?”

They both turn to look at me and Laf raises an eyebrow, “Two things: One, who are you supposed to be? And two, we have a squad name now?”

I roll my eyes and pull out my gun and point it to my poster, “I’m Wynonna Earp. It’s subtle because not a lot of people know who it is and I’m not sticking out like a sore thumb like you Dr. Frankenstein. And yeah, obviously.” 

They look down at their outfit and pout, “You’re being mean, I think I look awesome.”

Perry rubs their back and smiles, “I think you look awesome, LaFontaine.”

Laf beams at this and they mumble a quiet thank you to Perry.

“Alright queer-squad, move out!” I raise my gun and walk out my room.

***

I will admit, Kirsch knows how to throw a party. He went all out for the Halloween decor. He has a haunted house in one of his storage units, he has Halloween themed games and the whole house has cobwebs and creepy things. I can definitely admire it. It just reminds me why I love Halloween. I love the creepiness and the darkness that is Halloween. Also, black is a huge color involved, which I like a lot.

“They have bobbing for apples! I’m going!” Laf darts off towards the apples and submerges their head in the barrel. Perry sighs and goes after them while I chuckle to myself. Perry spent a lot of time on Laf’s makeup and I know they just completely ruined it in less than 10 minutes of us being at the party. 

I take this time to walk to the back of the property and check out this haunted house. Like I expected, it’s super cheesy. I knew when all the jump scares were going to happen and I ended up laughing in one guys face for trying to scare me. They were not amused. I make my way back towards the house to find Laf and Perry and I feel a tug on my arm. I whip my head around and groan at who I see.

“Carmillaaaa. Just the girl I’ve been looking for.”

I try wiggling my way out of her grasp, “Elsie, I’ve told you plenty of times, I’m not interested.”

She holds on tighter and whines, “You can’t say no to me, especially not in this costume.”

I didn’t notice her costume until she mentioned it. I wouldn’t even consider it a costume. She’s literally in a bathing suit and that’s it. 

“I can and I am, let go now.” 

“Carmilla you look so good in this outfit, I would love to get you out of it.”

I unhook her fingers from my arm and look her in the face, “Tell you what, if you can guess who I’m supposed to be, I’ll let you have your way with me.”

She looks up at me and smirks. She gives me a once over and furrows her eyebrows. She’s trying hard to concentrate on what I’m wearing and I can literally see the gears trying to turn in her head. She sighs and shakes her head. I smirk and walk off, “Guess you lost the game.”

I chuckle to myself at my trick and start making my way back to the house. I scan the crowd for my friends and I spot them over at a game where it looks like you pin a spider on a web. As I’m walking over there, I notice what seems like people fighting just by the side of the house. I contemplate if I should check it out since it’s not my business, but I slowly make my way over there and I can hear voices. 

“Come on hottie, I know you want this.”

“No, I really don’t, leave me alone, Jared.”

His voice turns more aggressive and I can hear the girl let out a yelp, “You listen here, I get what I want. All you girls are all the same.” 

I turn the corner and shove the guy off the girl with all my might, “I believe I heard the girl say she’s not interested,” I spit at him.

I turn my head to make sure the girl is okay and my heart nearly sinks to my stomach. The girl being attacked is Laura, and the look on her face is so frightened. I feel myself getting shoved and the guy looks down at me.

“Back the fuck up, bitch, before you get hurt.”

I grit my teeth and pull out my fake gun and point it right between his eyes, “Yeah, I don’t think so fucker.”

His eyes look like they’re about to shoot out of his head and he takes off towards the cars, “Crazy bitch!” I let out a breath and turn to check on Laura except she’s nowhere to be found. I run my hand through my hair, cursing under my breath, and go off in search to find the scared girl. 

***

I’ve been walking around the property for almost an hour and still no sign of Laura. She may have left the party, but I’m not sure. I walk over to Laf and Perry and they stand up.

“What’s up, Carmilla? You look like you’re on a mission.”

“Do you guys know a girl named Laura?”

“Laura? I know a Laura Hollis who’s in my Government class.” Perry says, “Does she have honey brown hair and sometimes talk too much?”

I nod my head, “Yeah. She seemed upset earlier and I’ve been trying to find her to make sure she’s okay.” 

Laf glances over towards where all the cars are parked, “Well her car is still here so she hasn’t left yet. We’ll look for her too and if we find her we’ll let you know, okay?”

I give them a small smile and nod, “Thanks you guys.”

Laf and Perry go into the house to look for Laura and I decided to go back outside and look in the back of Kirsch’s property. I spy the treehouse and thought maybe if I climb up to the top I could spot Laura from up there. I climb the ladder up into the treehouse and I hear someone sniffling. I stop my feet and listen to where it’s coming from. I turn the corner and I see a figure hunched into a ball, rocking themselves back and forth and they’re mumbling something under their breath. 

“Laura..?”

They still their movements and slowly pick their head up and look at me. And if I thought how I saw Laura moments ago was upsetting, this is a million times worse. I slowly approach her and kneel down to be eye level with her. I don’t say anything and she’s searching my eyes for something. I think she’s looking for pity or some other emotion, I’m not sure, but I just look at her and give her a small smile. I go to touch her knee gently, but she draws herself more into her and I pull my hand back. I sit criss-cross in front of her and put my hands in my lap.

Laura drops her head back into her lap and continues to rock back and forth. I’ve never seen someone look like this before. Usually, in class Laura is a ray of sunshine. She talks way too much and always is raising her hand to answer questions or to ask an excessive amount of them. But I always found it so endearing. And it is painful to watch this ray of sunshine looking like a hurricane in the ocean. Sad and depressing. 

I rack my brain to think of how I can approach helping her. I’ve never been one to get involved in things and this sure as hell doesn’t involve me. But I also can’t just leave her up here by herself in the state that she is it. I lean back against the treehouse and look up at the stars. I think back to when I would get upset when I was younger and what my dad would do about it. I smile sadly up to the stars and start humming the song he would sing to me. 

“T-thank you… for earlier.”

I open my eyes and look over at her and send her the softest smile I can make, “You don’t need to thank me, Cupcake.”

She sniffles and shivers and I take that moment to realize what costume she’s wearing. She’s dressed in khaki pants with a white blouse tucked in them, with a badge around her neck. She obviously is Lois Lane. I shrug off my leather jacket and lean over and drape it over Laura gently. She grips the jacket and holds it close to her. 

“But won’t you get cold?” She questions.

I shake my head and smile softly, “I’m from Canada, so I’m built for cold temperatures. Unlike you people down here who get cold when it drops below 80 degrees.” 

She chuckles softly and looks up at me, “Thank you.”

I feel my phone vibrate from my jeans and grab it to look at who texted me.

Laf: Did you find her?

I completely forgot to text them when I found her. I type back a quick reply and slide my phone back into my pocket. 

“Do you have somewhere you need to be?” 

I shake my head, “I’m right where I want to be.”

She smiles slightly and I swear I could see a blush on her cheeks, but it’s also way too dark to be able to tell. “Do you want me to take you home?”

She looks into my eyes and nods her head, “Please.”

I stand up and reach my hand out for Laura to grab. She takes my hand and pulls herself up. I felt a fire course through my body when our hands connected. And never have I wanted to burn so badly. Our hands disconnect as we descend down the ladder and we make our way to my Jeep. I notice Laura get tense when we get closer to people at the party so I place my hand on her lower back, guiding her. “I got you, Cupcake.” She seems to relax a bit and we make it to my car. I open the door for her and let her get buckled up and then I shut her door. I walk around and get it on my side and start the car. I buckle myself up and we make our way away from the party. 

***

We pull up to Laura’s house about 15 minutes later. I put the car in park and Laura finally says something. 

“I’m sorry if I ruined your night.”

I look over at Laura from the driver's seat and shake my head, “Trust me, you didn’t. I was looking for an excuse to leave anyway.” 

She nods softly, “Well still, I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t show up…”

“Hey,” I reach over and place my hand on hers and grab it gently. “You’re safe now, Cupcake.”

A tear escapes down Laura’s cheek and I brush it away. She looks over at me with such sadness in her eyes and it hurts my heart. I squeeze her hand and pull it back and get out of the car. I walk around and open her door and she gives me a confused look. I simply help my hand out and she unbuckled and took my hand. I laced my fingers with hers and lead her to the middle of the road. It’s kind of late and it’s a one street road so no one will be out driving. I turn around to face her and her face is so confused. 

“Carmilla, what are we doing?”

I don’t say anything, but instead, grab her arm and wrap it around my shoulders, pulling her body closer to mine and smiling softer at her. I force her to take a step back, then have her step towards me, then pull back to spin her around. She giggles when she spins and smiles at me. We continue doing this for a while until I decide to dip her and she lets out a laugh and it makes me smile. I pull her back up and she smiles at me.

“Not sure what that was, but it distracted me. Thank you.”

I return the smile, “It’s called Waltzing, and that was the point cutie.” 

She looks towards her house and her smile slowly fades, “I should probably get inside, I know my dad is waiting up for me.”

I nod my head, “No problem, Cupcake.”

Her smile returns and she steps closer and pulls me into a hug. I was stunned at first but I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her back. The feel of Laura’s body pressed against mine makes the burn feel so good. And even though when she and I were waltzing not long ago, this feels different somehow. Maybe because Laura initiated it. She pulls back and blushes slightly,

“Goodnight Carm.”

“Goodnight, creampuff.”

I watch Laura safely get into her house and I get back into my Jeep. I drive back to my house and I can’t help the smile that forms on my face. Even though it started out rocky, I think this may have been the best Halloween I’ve ever had.


	5. November Fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about this story! I just hit a major writers' block, as well as had to deal with school (it's fucking hard I hate it.) But I digress, here is Chapter 5! Not gonna lie, not my favorite chapter to write, but I promise we're making progress! (How people punch out chapters every week I'll never know.) But I hope you enjoy! Again, if you have an idea for the story, I'd love to hear it! I think it would be neat to include some of y'alls ideas or personal stories! 
> 
> Twitter: www.twitter.com/thatwickedozian  
> Tumblr: https://thatwickedozian.tumblr.com
> 
> AN: Ryan's character is 100% based off my actual brother-in-law. Just so you know!

It’s finally the month of November, and I couldn’t be more excited. Even though it’s been the Autumn season since September 22, there’s something about the month of November that is my favorite part of it. I love watching the trees change color as their leafs start to turn orange and red. There’s something so beautiful about it. It should be viewed as rather sad since the trees are losing their leaves, but you know that come in Spring, they will get new leaves, and all will be good again. It’s the circle of life.

After last night, I haven’t been able to get Laura Hollis off my mind. Which isn’t that unusual because since I met the girl, she’s been in the back of my mind and I can’t seem to figure out what it is about her that intrigues me so. But when I took her home and waltzed with her in the street, I can’t seem to think of anything else. The way she looked when I pulled her out of the car and started to dance with her. The way a small smile appeared upon her lips as she was slowly letting herself go and enjoy herself. The way she laughed when I dipped her. God, that laugh. It was like magic. I’d give anything, do anything, to hear that laugh again. 

I arrive at school somewhat earlier than I usually do, but I guess since I woke up in such a good mood I didn’t have an excuse to stay in my bed, which is really saying something. I park my Jeep into my usual spot and walk into the school and sit against the wall by the trophy cases. I put my headphones in and listen to the band I The Mighty, which I am supposed to go see in concert soon with Laf. Perry gracefully opted out of coming with us, not that I’m all that surprised by that. It’s definitely not her style of music. I watch the people walk past me and then I spot that asshole from the other night that cornered Laura. What was his name? Jason? Jacob? It doesn’t matter. He just better hope I never see him messing with her again. 

I hear the warning bell ring and I sigh and get up to walk to my class. I see Laf in anatomy and they, as usual, are going on and on about Perry. I give them a few words of encouragement and tell them to get their ass into gear and just tell her that they like her. Laf is hard headed though so it’ll take some more badgering before they finally buckle up and do it. 

I am slightly excited to go to English and see Laura. I haven’t heard from her since I took her home after the party, which I wasn’t expecting to anyway. I take my seat and tap my fingers against my thigh and try to calm my nerves. The bell rings and I look over at her seat and furrow my eyebrows. She’s not here. I don’t think Laura has missed a day of school since I started coming here. _She probably doesn’t feel good._ I try to not let that bother me and continue on with my day.

***

The next day I usually see Laura during my lunch period. She sits with the same group of girls while I sit by Kirsch and just observe. If I’m being honest, I mostly watch her. I’ve always been an observer. I like to watch people (not in a weird or creepy way) and just see how they interact with others and I try to understand them. I guess you could say I’m a wallflower. I’ve never been a socialite so it intrigues me to watch people who are. I watch her interact with them and watch her laugh along with them. But I sometimes wonder if it’s forced? Like she’s there, but she’s not there. Which definitely makes me curious as to why someone so bubbly and talkative doesn’t seem to do much talking with her group of friends. When she smiles, it doesn’t quite reach her eyes and not that any of them notice, but I do. Maybe I’m just over analyzing.

I take my spot next to Kirsch and he smiles at me and I return it. He continues on talking with his buddies and I look over at where Laura sits, only she isn’t there. She must really be not feeling good if she’s not at school again. I let out a breath and decide to scroll through my phone instead.

***

The day after proved to be no different. Once again, no Laura in English. After class is over I walk up to our teacher and ask her for an extra assignment and she gives me a strange look but hands me one no less. I proceed to ask Laf and Perry to get an extra homework assignment from the classes they share with Laura, which they both gave me weird looks for. But, they did give me the assignments for her during lunch. Instead of sitting with them today I make my way to the front office and talk to the lady at the desk.

“Hello dear, how can I help you?”

“Hi, I was wondering if you could give me a list of teachers that Laura Hollis has?”

The receptionist looked at me funny and raised an eyebrow, “I’m not supposed to give out a student's private information.”

I sigh and run my hand through my hair, “I understand that. She’s been out sick for the past three days so I thought I might get all her homework for her. Thanks anyways.”

I turn to walk out but I hear her say, “Wait.” I turn back around and she prints out a paper and hands it to me, “Here, this is her schedule, you’re a kind friend to do this.”

I smile softly and thank her before going to each of the other classes and asking her teachers for her assignments.

***

The bell rings after my third class, which is the end of the day for me. I make sure all of Laura’s papers are in order and I stick them in a folder Perry gave me. I walk out to my Jeep and pull out of the school’s parking lot and head off to Laura’s.

I did drive to Laura’s house in the dark the last time, but I remember certain landmarks and signs that help guide me to where I need to turn. I pull up to the somewhat familiar house and park my car. I take a deep breath and look around the front of the house. There’s a car in the driveway, I’m assuming it’s hers. I grab the folder and walk up to the front porch and knock on the door. I wait a few seconds but no one came. I knocked a little louder this time and I can hear someone coming down the stairs. The door swings open and a very tall and very largely built man is standing there. He smiles way too big at me and I try to return one.

“Hello there! Can I help you?” His voice is much more southern than Laura’s.

“Uh yeah, sorry. I have some homework assignments for Laura. She hasn’t been at school so I figured she wouldn’t want to get behind.” I stick out the folder to him.

He takes the folder and smiles again, “That’s very kind of you, thank you! I’m sure Laura will appreciate it. She hasn’t been feeling all that well since this weekend, but I think she’s getting better. I’m hoping she’ll be able to return to school either tomorrow or Friday.”

I nod my head, “Yeah, no problem. Um, well I have to get to my job, but tell Laura I hope she feels better.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“I’m Carmilla, sir.”

He nods and smiles, “Thank you Carmilla, you have a great day.”

He turns back and shuts the door behind him. I walk back to my Jeep and start it up. I glance up at the window on the second story and wonder if that’s where Laura is. I wonder what’s wrong with her? It must be pretty bad if her dad has to stay home and take care of her. I really hope she comes back to school soon.

***

I walk into the bookshop and Sue smiles at me. She tells me she wants me to work the register today and she shows me how to use it. Luckily it isn’t too hard. I hear the bell ding on the door and look up from the book I’m reading to see Jake and his mom walking in. He rushes over to me and places his hands on the counter.

“Okay, so I read the book. Three times. And I need to know what happens.”

I chuckle and move from behind the counter and walk him over to the section that has all the Percy Jackson books. I take The Sea of Monsters off the shelf and hand it to him. “They introduce a new character to this book, I think you’ll like him.” 

He holds the book and looks over the cover and smiles, “I can’t wait to read it. You were right about it being like a movie in your head.”

I take The Titan’s Curse off the shelf as well and hand it to him, “Sea of Monsters is the shortest one of the series, so you might want to get the third book as well.”

He holds both books and turns to his mom, “Mom, can I please get both?”

She holds her finger to her lips and looks up like she’s thinking about it. He looking at her with hopeful eyes and is biting his lip. She grins and tells him they can get both and he’s so happy he hugs his mom so hard. I smile softly and walk back behind the counter and ring up their total. Jake tells me he’ll see me soon and I tell him he better. 

Sue comes from the back room and tells me to go home. I clock out on my timesheet and help her pick up the store a little bit. She locks up and waves me goodbye. Instead of going home immediately, I decide to walk down the strip center. I spy a coffee shop and decide that I would like a coffee. I get a regular black coffee and add my sugars and creamers myself. I sit at a table in the corner and sit on my coffee as I look out the window. 

Someone sits across from me and I glance up to see who it is. Ryan smiles at me and leans back in his chair, “Hey, sis.”

I grin back at him, “Hey brother. What are you doing out?”

He takes a sip from his drink and looks out the window, “Well, since I work three jobs, it keeps me pretty busy. I’m about to head home though after this.”

I nod my head and look back out the window, “Yeah, I’m going home soon too.”

He looks at me and smiles, “How are you? You and I haven’t really had a chance to sit down and talk since you got here.”

I shrug my shoulders, “I’m doing okay. Just going to school and working sometimes. Nothing crazy.”

He keeps looking at me and raises an eyebrow, “Tell me how you’re really feeling.”

I sigh and look at my cup, “I don’t know. I feel a lot of things. I’m happy for the most part, but sometimes I get sad when I think about them. Or her. It was just a lot at once and I just try to avoid it.”

He reaches over and holds my hand in his, “You don’t have to be strong all the time Carmilla, you can be sad. I know Mattie gets sad about it, even I get sad about it.”

I bite my lip and nod my head. I have known Ryan since I was about 8 years old. Mattie is 7 years older than me so her and Ryan started dating when she was 16. He’s been in my life since then and he’s been like an older brother to me. Even though Ryan is my brother-in-law, I just refer to him as just my brother. He would sit down and listen to me and give me advice. He was very supportive when I came out whereas Mattie didn’t understand and wouldn’t talk to me about it. He was always kind to me even when I didn’t like him because I didn’t like someone stealing my sister away. He has even taken me out, just the two of us, to dinner once and to a movie. He’s one of the kindest people I have ever met. 

He finishes off his drink and stands up. I finish my coffee and stand up as well. We take our trash and throw it out and walk out of the coffee shop. He throws his arm around my shoulders and we walk to our cars in silence. A few people walk past and I see them glancing at Ryan. Once they passed I could hear them whispering amongst each other. I always forget that Ryan is different. When he was a baby, his older brother was playing with matches and lit Ryan’s crib on fire. His parents had to throw him through the window and they said his skin was falling off. He spent a lot of his infancy in a burn unit. He has visible burns on his cheeks, his hands and arms up to the top of his collar bones, and on his feet. So it’s common people are perplexed by his appearance. Not that he looks abnormal, but still visibly different. But honestly, it just makes him all the more cute with the burns. We reach my Jeep first and he gives me a hug.

“See you at home, sis.”

“See you at home, brother.”

He smiles and makes his way to his black truck. I swear, almost all of the men here have a truck. It’s insane. I watch him get into his truck before starting my Jeep up and pulling out of the parking lot. I plug the aux cord into my phone and blast my music loud as I drive home. I can always drown out my thoughts.

***

I get to school the next day and am sitting in my usual spot in the mornings when someone slides down the wall and sits next to me. I turn my head, pulling out one of my headphones as a small smile creeps onto my face.

“Hello, Cupcake. Glad to see you’re feeling better.”

She smiles back brightly, “Hey Carm. I wanted to say thank you for bringing me my homework from my classes. It was really sweet of you.”

I try to hide the blush that’s forming on my face, “Not a problem. Have you had any trouble trying to catch up on your work?”

“Only with math. I’ve never been very good at it and missing class twice definitely doesn’t help.” 

“What math are you in?”

“College Algebra with Leland.”

“Don’t know who that is,” she laughs at that, “But I did take that at my old school. I can help you with it if you want.”

Her face brightens up, “Really?! That would be great, thank you!” The bell rings. She looks up at the ceiling and stands up. I stand up too and say, “Let me see your phone.” 

She hands me her phone and I call my own phone from it and then hand hers back to her, “Let me know when is a good time for you and we can go over your homework.” 

She smiles big and puts my name in her phone, “Thank you Carm, I’ll see you later!” 

She skips off towards her class and I shake my head smiling. _This girl._


	6. Thump thump.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an update! I deeply apologize for my lack of posting. I'm not a writer, this is why I'm majoring in Psychology! But anyways, here we see a bit of Carmilla's past... She's been through some stuff. And I may have added a little bit of Hollstein fluff??? Hehe. 
> 
> Also, if anyone is interested, I do want to get in touch with some people who may have ideas to help my story come along. The main problem for me is filler chapters because I don't want the story to move too fast. So, if anyone wants to, leave me a comment and I'll get in touch with you! 
> 
> PS: If anyone is remotely curious as to what Ryan is supposed to look like, here's a link to a Twitter picture of him! https://twitter.com/ThatWickedOzian/status/901637165100277762

“You walk into a mysterious dungeon. You can hear the sounds of water dripping from stalagmites. You keep descending into the dungeon when you come across an Orc, hunched over a pile or gold. He’s alone, with a health of 250. What do you do?”

“Attack obviously, I want his money!”

“Laf, we can’t just go an attack an Orc. We need to be smart about this.”

“Don’t care, I’m rolling for it!” They roll their d20 and it slowly lands to a stop, landing on the number 3.

“Your character attacks the Orc, and the Orc swings its club and crushes you. You’re dead.”

“Fuck! God dammit.” 

I sigh, “I told you to be smart about this.”

Laf gives me a look, “Whatever Karnstein, I haven’t played D&D before.”

“Exactly my point as to why you should listen to me.” I roll my eyes.

“Carmilla, what will you do?” Perry, the Dungeon Master, asks.

I contemplate my skill set and come up with a strategy. “Okay, I sneak up behind the Orc, cast a sleeping spell, and while he’s out, loot him and then vanish from thin air back to a safety zone.” I roll my d20 and get a 17.

“You successfully knocked out the Orc and took all his possessions and escaped the dungeon!” 

I smile to myself and smirk at a now pouting Laf, “And that’s how it’s done.”

They roll their eyes at me, “Who would have thought that you would be so nerdy, Karnstein.”

I shrug my shoulders, “I like what I like.”

“Yeah, and you like Laura Hollis.” 

I roll my eyes, “I do not like her.”

They give me a pointed look and go to say something before I cut them off, “I’m just going to help her with her math because she’s behind and I’m good at math. That’s all.”

Perry smiles softly at me, “It’s okay if you have a crush on Laura, she’s a wonderful girl and very kind.”

I shrug off what they’re both saying and grab my dice, “Are we going to keep playing or keep talking about something that’s not even true?”

Laf and Perry both look at each before letting the conversation go and continue on with the game. Even though it is true that I have a crush on Laura, I don’t really want anyone to know. I don’t like the constant teasing or the badgering. Which makes me very hypocritical because I do that stuff to Laf about Perry constantly. But I digress, I don’t want it done to me. The last time I liked a girl, I was always being asked about it and it’s not that I didn’t want to talk about her, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up for someone that may not even like me back. So, I suffer in silence and just keep to myself. It’s easier this way. You don’t get hurt as bad this way.

***

_“Carmilla! Come on, we’re going to be late!”_

_I groan and roll over in my bed, throwing my pillow over my head. I hear footsteps getting closer to my door before I hear it open._

_“Millie Pie! Come on! Aren’t you coming with us?”_

_“No.” I take out my head from the pillow and look at my dad._

_He smiles at me and sits on the edge of my bed, “You know it would make your mother very happy if you came with us.”_

_I sigh and roll on my back, “I’m not religious. So I would rather not go to church with you guys if I’m just going to drown out the sermon and play on my phone the whole time.”_

_“Alright Mills, if you’re sure,” He leans down and kisses my forehead, “I’ll see you after church.”_

_He smiles and leaves out the door. I smile to myself because I have such a great and supportive dad. I get comfy again and slowly fall back into my slumber._

_I’m woken up by my cell phone ringing. I huff and silence it and closes my eyes again. I hear it go off again and I groan loudly become grabbing my phone and answering it._

_“What?”_

_“Is this Carmilla Karnstein?”_

_I furrow my eyebrows, “Yes, who is this?”_

_“This is Officer Reade, there’s been an accident…”_

_I didn’t hear anything after that. My whole body and mind went into shock. I could tell the Officer was still speaking but I didn’t hear a word he said. I could feel myself shaking and the tears just pouring down my face. I blacked out after that._

I jolted awake sitting up in my bed, trying desperately to catch my breath. I ran my hands through my hair and gripped my hair. I felt the warm tears drip down my cheeks. I can’t make them stop. I sob loudly and rock myself, trying to get the bad memories out of my head. _Calm down, Karnstein. It was just a dream. You’re okay._ I feel the bed dip and Wyatt squeezes his head between my legs and my head from where I was hunched in my ball. I grab him hard and cry into his fur as he just laid there. He gently nudges me back a bit so I uncoil myself from the tight lock I was in and slowly lay back down on my bed. He moves over to lay next to me on the bed and I wrap my arms around him again. I cry into him until I fell back asleep.

***

I wake up again to the sound of my alarm. I groan and bury my face in my pillow. I feel Wyatt licking me and I sigh and get up. He jumps off the bed and runs to the door and looks at me, waiting for me to let him out. I unlock the door and open it for him and he bolts out and down the stairs to outside. Walking to my sink, I turn the water on and splash cold water on my face to try and wake myself up. And honestly to hopefully make my eyes not look as if I was crying all night. I glance up at myself in the mirror and furrow my eyebrows in thought. I grab the sink and close my eyes hard to keep from crying again. I am a mess. I wish I wasn’t so emotional. I wish those nightmares would stop happening. I feel like I haven’t slept good in over 2 years. I miss the days where I would sleep for 12 hours at a time and my mom would be yelling at me that I’m wasting my day. I wish I appreciated it back then.

I walk over to my shower I just finished building last week and start the water. It’s not much, but it’s something. It’s about 4 feet by 6 feet, so rather big and it’s a walk in shower with a sliding door on the inside. It’s made out of refurbished wood with a thick coat of polyurethane to keep the wood from rotting in a shiplap design. The inside of the shower also has tin that is used on roofs to protect the wood (it is also a lot easier to clean.) The floor is made of dark tiling and I also put down rubber mats so I won’t fall on my ass. I’m very proud of it actually, even if it is super southern for me. 

I let the water run over my body and I lean my head against the shower wall. The water is boiling hot, but I don’t seem to feel it. I grab the soap and proceed to clean myself up, but you can’t clean away the bad memories in your head. I lather shampoo and conditioner in my hair and then rinse it out. As I turn the water off I wring my hair out to try to get as much water out as I can. My towel is hooked right outside the sliding door and I dry myself off as I walk back to my room to pick out my clothes for the day. I settle for, shocker, black again. Black jeans, black band t-shirt of Hail the Sun, and my black Doc Martens. I’m wicked predictable.

***

I’m in the kitchen eating a peanut butter sandwich when Mattie waddles in. She sits in the chair next to me and lets out a sigh. I continue to eat my sandwich and I see her move her arm over her face and sigh louder this time. I roll my eyes and glance at my sister, “Yes?”

She removes her arm and smiles, “Oh great you acknowledged me. I was wondering if you wanted to accompany me to an ultrasound for the twins today.” 

I groan and slump in my chair, “Do I have to?”

Mattie frowns slightly, but it doesn’t go unnoticed by me, “I suppose not. I just thought you might want to be there and experience this with me.” 

She stands and starts to waddle elsewhere in the house. I wonder why she would want me to go with her? We aren’t particularly close, nor am I interested in babies at all. This is something mom would… Shit. Mom isn’t here to experience this with Mattie. I never really thought about it before that Mattie would want mom’s help and guidance through this. And now she’s asking me to go with her because she wants to share this with someone. I sigh and stand up.

“Wait,” Mattie stops and turns around with a raised eyebrow. “I’ll come with you.”

My sister smiles brightly and grabs her keys, “Well, let’s go, Sis.”

***

We make the drive down to the building where Mattie is having her ultrasound. We get into the waiting room and I take a seat as Mattie goes over to the window and checks herself in. She comes over to sit down next to me and we wait until she’s called.

“Mrs. Belmonde?”

Mattie and I stand as we follow a nurse into a room. She instructs Mattie to lay on the examination table and wait until her doctor arrived. I helped my sister get situated on the table and we waited until a middle-aged woman with brown hair walked into the room all cheerful and excited. Her and Mattie exchanged pleasantries and Mattie introduced me as her sister. The doctor nodded at me with a smile and put on her gloves. 

“Okay Mattie, I’m going to lift up your shirt, put this cold gel on your tummy, and then we can have a look at those girls of yours!”

Mattie lifts up her shirt and the doctor squeezes out a handful of blueish gel and lathers it onto Mattie’s stomach. She then grabs this weird device and begins to press it onto Mattie’s stomach and she looks over at the machine. 

She pauses the screen and points at it, “Right there is Baby A’s head! It looks to be growing normal!” 

I look over at the screen and furrow my eyebrows. How she knows that’s the head I will never understand. She moves the tool over towards the bottom of Mattie’s stomach and pauses again. 

“And that is Baby B’s feet, they’re so cute!” At least those actually look like feet. 

She continues to move around and look at all the sides of the babies as much as they allow before she clicks some buttons on her screen, “Would y’all like to hear their heartbeats?” Mattie smiles and nods and I also nod. She clicks some more buttons and moves the toll over her stomach again and I hear it. 

_Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump, thump thump._

My eyes go big when I hear that baby’s heartbeat. She’s not even a fully developed human yet her heartbeat is so strong. I bite my lip as a tear slips past my cheek. I whip it away fast before anyone can notice and I smile softly at my sister who is full out crying. I reach over and grab her hand and she squeezes mine back. I’m really glad I decided to come and see this.

***

Later that night, my phone vibrates. I furrow my eyebrows and pause my game to see who would be texting me. I pick up my phone and a small smile creeps onto my face.

 **Cupcake** : Math is going to be the death of me! 

**Me** : Is this your way of asking me to come help you? 

**Cupcake** : … maybe. Is it working? 

**Me** : You can try harder.

 **Cupcake** : Carmilla, will you please come help me with my math homework? (:

 **Me** : Of course, Creampuff. Do you want me to come to your house or…?

 **Cupcake** : We can meet at the local library? 

**Me** : I’ll be there in 20.

 **Cupcake** : See you then! (:

I jump up and look at myself in the mirror. Decent. Okay. I grab my calculator and my keeps off my desk and walk outside to my Jeep. I start it up and pull out the driveway to the library. I arrive about 15 minutes later and see that it’s pretty vacant. Only maybe 3 other cars here. I get out of my Jeep and lock it up before heading inside. I glance around to see if Laura is here yet and I don’t see her. I walk around the library to the back corner before I spy a familiar head of honey blonde hair. I smirk and make my way over to her and sit across from her. She hasn’t noticed my presences because her head is deep in her textbook. I drop my calculator down on the table loudly and she jumps and lowers her textbook to glance at what caused the disruption. When she realizes it’s me, a huge smile forms on her face and she sets down her textbook. 

“Thank you so much for coming to help me. I’m not keeping you from anything right? Oh my god, I didn’t even ask if you were busy. You must’ve been busy with something on a Saturday night. And I dragged you away from it. Ugh I’m so sorry I-”

“Woah there Cupcake, I literally wasn’t doing anything. If anything, you saved me from a night of boredom.”

She smiles softly and tilts her head, “Because math isn’t boring?” 

I smile back, “Not to me it isn’t. What’s the problem?”

She slides over her homework assignment and I glance over it. She’s doing the work right, but her answers come out wrong every time. I ask her for a sheet of paper and she rips one out of her notebook and hands it to me. I steal her pencil and begin to do the problem myself. I use my calculator to plug everything into the equation. I jot down the answer and send the paper back over to her. 

“So you’re doing everything right. Like all your work is right. It’s just tricky when you have to plug everything into the calculator.”

She groans and slaps her hand to her forehead, “That’s literally it? I feel stupid.”

I smile softly and shake my head, “You are not stupid. It’s a very common mistake. Especially since you’re using that dinosaur calculator instead of a scientific calculator.”

She furrows her eyebrows, “Scientific? Carm, this is math class. Not science.”

I laugh and I see her smile softly at me, “It’s a fancy calculator. Here, I’ll let you borrow mine. I don’t need it.”

I slide my calculator over to her and she shakes her head, “No what if I break it? I’ll feel terrible!” 

“You know those old Nokia phones? They’re like that. Almost indestructible.” 

She slowly grabs the calculator and looks at it, “Okay but I don’t know how to use this thing.”

I stand up and move around to the other side of the table and take the seat next to her. I hear her take a breath in as I pull my seat up. I put the calculator between us and glance at her, 

“First, this is the ON button.” I click it and she squints her eyes at me.

I chuckle and shake my head, “To square a number, you press the number and press the (^2) key and it will square it for you.” 

She presses the number 213 and squares it to get 45,369. Her eyes go bigger and she smiles, “This makes things so much easier.” 

I nod encouragingly, “There you go, Cupcake.” 

She looks over at me with a big smile on her face and I return the smile back to her. She’s looking deep into my eyes with a slight gleam in them. I would have never thought that brown could be my favorite eye color, but after staring into Laura’s, it has definitely become my favorite. It may just be my imagination, but I could swear she’s leaning into me. I feel my heart beating out of my chest and I start to meet her halfway. 

“Attention, the library will be closing in 5 minutes.” 

We jump apart slightly and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. She must have been too because I see her deflate slightly. She smiles at me as she packs her things up into her backpack. We make our way out of the library and are standing in the parking lot. She stops near her car, a beat-up Chevy pick-up truck. The red paint is clearly peeling and rust is seen everywhere, but it seems to suit this southern belle quite well. 

“Thank you so much for helping me today, Carmilla.” She sends a small smile at me.

“Anytime, Cupcake” I smile back. 

I see her bite her lip, contemplating something inside that head of hers and before I can even register it, Laura stands on her tiptoes and places a quick kiss on my cheek, “Okay, bye!”

She hops into her truck and is out of the parking lot as my hand slowly moves up to my burning cheek. And I giggle. I fucking giggle. Laughing, I throw my head back and look up at the sky smiling a smile I haven’t had in years.


	7. Cookie Cake for the Cupcake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACKKKKKKKK. Hehe. Sorry, it's been ages. I feel I apologize every time and I probably will continue to apologize because I'm terrible with updates ): 
> 
> This was a fun chapter to write and it double of what I usually write. Also, you're welcome! (You'll see hehe.)
> 
> This was also written by my co-author and best friend! They don't have an AO3 account yet but when they do they'll be tagged as well! I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> Get in touch with me!
> 
> Twitter: www.twitter.com/thatwickedozian  
> Tumblr: https://thatwickedozian.tumblr.com

“So, if you have 5y+1=8y-5+6y, what do you get?”

Laura’s face becomes determined as she starts solving the equation. Her pencil is writing down what she is working out in her head, and I must admit, it’s amazing to watch her think. Her face scrunches up and she sometimes sticks her tongue out because ‘it helps me concentrate better, Carm.’ I smile softly to myself as she stops writing and slips the paper over to me to check.

“You got y=⅔. So, how do you know if you’re right?”

“I plug in ⅔ into the equation and see if they’re equal.”

 

She picks up the calculator and plugs in ⅔ for y and retypes the equation. She gets 4.3 for the left side and 4.3 for the right side. She smiles brightly at me and it makes my heart melt. She squeals slightly and does a little jig in her seat.

 

“I did it! Carm, you are such a great teacher! Thank you!”

I fight the blush that is threatening to creep up to my cheeks and shrug, “Not a big deal, cupcake.” I rub the back of my neck and try to suppress the butterflies in my stomach because she is giving me this look. I don’t know how else to describe this look but it almost reminds me of adoration? It must be my wishful thinking. I glance around the pretty vacant library and look back at Laura, “So, what are your plans for the rest of this weekend, creampuff?”

Laura’s demeanor changes ever so slightly, but since I’m so hyper-focused on her, I noticed. She lets out a breath and shrugs her shoulders as she doodles some on her notebook paper, “Not a whole lot. I’ll probably just stay home and have like a movie marathon or something casual like that.”

I furrow my eyebrows, “You’re not going to Kirsch’s pre-Thanksgiving party?”

She shakes her head, “No. After the Halloween party, I haven’t gone to any more parties…”

I did not know that information. Because I, as well, have not gone to any other parties because Laf, Perry, and I have more fun playing games instead. It makes me sad knowing Laura might have been alone the past few weekends. “You’re not going to have your friends over too or something?”

Again, she shakes her head, “My friends always go to Kirsch’s parties. They don’t like to miss out on an event like that because it could ‘damage their popularity.’”

I scoff and roll my eyes, “You need better friends.”

 

She shrugs and continues to look down at her paper. I bite my lip and contemplate my wording before it all falls out of my mouth like water from a waterfall, “Do you want to help me with my art assignment?”

She glances up at me, confused almost, “Carm, you have seen my doodles. I pale in comparison to you.”

I smile softly and shake my head, “I need a topic for my major grade and I have absolutely nothing. I was gonna try a different method today to try and get my creative juices flowing if you want to tag along.”

A smile creeps onto that lovely face and it lights up the whole room, “I would love to.”

***

I have Laura follow me to my house and have her park behind me. I get out of the Jeep and Wyatt is jumping on me, greeting me. I squat down and pet him, giving him some love and whispering sweet nothings to him. His attention goes away from me as he hears another door shut. He barks and runs over to Laura and jumps on her now. She giggles and greets Wyatt and I smile at the exchange.

I already have the trailer hooked up to the four-wheeler and I have the trailer loaded up with the easels, canvases, and trash cans with their lids on them, concealing what I have inside them. Laura walks over to peek into the trailer and raises an eyebrow. 

“What’s in the trash cans, Carm?”

I smirk and shrug my shoulders, “It’s a surprise, Cupcake.” 

She rolls her eyes in a playful way and leans against the four-wheeler, “Fine. Be all mysterious.”

I let out a laugh and roll my eyes as well, “You’ll see soon enough, but uh, you might want to change your clothes.”

She looks down at her outfit. She is wearing fitted blue jeans with a Hufflepuff Harry Potter sweater. She looks back up at me and pouts, “You think I’m nerdy don’t you?”

I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow, “Sweetheart, I know that you’re nerdy. It’s something I like about you.” She blushes at my words and I, as well, blush slightly for letting that slip. “I meant you need to change because what we are going to do might get messy and it won’t come out of your clothes, trust me.”

I turn and head up the stairs to my room and I feel Laura follow me. I begin to panic slightly because she’s about to see my room for the first time. I did not think this plan all the way through. I bite my lip and rolls my eyes at myself as I reach the top step and I place my hand on the doorknob and glance back at Laura.

“Um, remember how you thought I was making fun of you because of your sweater?” She nods, “Well, uh, just don’t make fun of me, okay?” She furrows her eyebrows in confusion but nods. 

I take a breath and turn the doorknob and let the door swing open. I walk inside with my eyes shut tight as I’m trying to control the anxiety I am feeling from her seeing my room. I don’t hear any laughter, not even a chuckle. I turn slowly to look at her and try and gauge her reaction, and I’m glad I chanced the look. She’s walking slowly, taking in all my knick-knacks and her eyes are full of wonder. She looks over my bookshelf with all the books I have read and goes over each spine with her index finger as she walks past. She kneels down to look at my figurines on my TV stand and picks up one to better inspect it. She picked up the Kingdom Hearts Mickey I have and she gently sets it back just as I had it. She stands back up to look at my collection of games and smiles to herself. I swallow the lump in my throat as I just stand awkwardly waiting for her to say something, anything. My palms are sweaty and I rub my thumb against the palm of my other hand and she glances back at me and smiles at me.

“I see you’re just as nerdy as I am. I have to admit, this is not what I was expecting. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but certainly not this.” 

I bite my lip, anxiety still swirling in my stomach, “Is that bad or...?”

I think she senses my vulnerability and anxiety and walks over to me and takes my hand in hers, rubbing her thumb over the back of it, “It’s definitely not a bad thing, Carm.”

I blush and I can’t even try to contain that one. I let out the breath I was holding as I smile back at Laura. We get caught up just looking at each other before I feel a furry body walk between us. I snap back into the moment and squeeze her hand before thanking her and letting it go. I walk over to my dresser and pull out my painting shirt, as well as an extra, and two pairs of already destroyed sweatpants covered in paint. I hand a set to Laura and she holds up the t-shirt.

“Uh Carm, do you have anything with um, sleeves?” 

I look at her and see she’s tense in a way, “It’s not that cold out right now.”

She bites her lip, which should be illegal. “I know it may not seem cold to you, but I’m southern and when it drops below 60 we freeze.”

I laugh and she relaxes a bit as I go to get her a long sleeve shirt. I hand her one and she thanks me as she goes to change. I change fast in my room and sit on the couch and wait for her to come out of the bathroom. She walks back in with the paint-splattered sweatpants and the clean black long-sleeve band tee I never wear and I make a mental note to myself. _Look for any excuse to have Laura wear my clothing._ I stand and gesture to the door smirking and she rolls her eyes smiling and we head down the stairs. 

I climb on the four-wheeler and start it up. It purrs to life and I rev it a bit before turning back to look at Laura. She is looking at me with eyes wide and I smirk, “You coming or what, Cutie?” She shakes her head, snapping herself out of whatever she was thinking and climbs behind me and nods her head, “Ready.”

I put the four-wheeler into High and start driving back towards the woods. I hear her make a noise and I slow down to glance back and she giggles a bit, “Okay so maybe I wasn’t ready for a fast take off.” 

I laugh and gesture to the bars behind her, “You can hold on to those or to me, whichever you prefer.” I start the throttle again and take off slower the time before gaining more speed. I jump slightly as I feel two arms snake around my waist, holding on tight. I blush and look down at the hands and smile to myself as I drive faster to the field in the woods.

***

It took a minute for me to set up everything the way I wanted and I motion for Laura to come over. She hops off the four-wheeler and walks over to where I am and I place a hand on the trash can lid. 

“Ready, Creampuff?” She nods excitingly and I pull the top off. 

Inside are water balloons, but they aren’t filled with water, but rather paint. There are two large trash cans that are filled to the brim with them. The colors range from red to purple, as well as black because let’s be honest, I need my black. She looks from the balloons to the canvases and then at me.

“So, we’re going to throw these at the canvases?”

I nod, “Yeah, Mrs. Welch says I need more color and blah blah blah so I thought this would be a fun way to find what I want for my project.”

I pick up a balloon and hurl it at a canvas and splat! A blob of green seeps down the canvas. I pick up another and then orange appears. I hand a balloon to Laura, “Have fun with it Cupcake.”

She throws one at a blank canvas and purple appears. She giggles and throws another, yellow this time. We keep throwing paint at the canvases until one seems to be full of color. I set down the balloon I had and go to take it down and replace it, “I’m gonna change out this one.” I tell Laura but I don’t think she heard me. Because as I’m going to take the canvas down, smack! I freeze as I feel a slimy texture sliding the left side of my head. I hear a gasp, and Laura’s hands come up to her mouth. 

“Oh my god, Carmilla, I am so sorry! I heard you say something but I was so into throwing that I didn’t register what you said and when I threw another it was already too late because I didn’t see you there and- ah!”

I smirk as yellow paint is dripping down Laura’s face. She chuckles slightly and shrugs, “Yeah, I guess I deserved that- ah! Hey!” I broke another one over her. She sputters for a second before squinting her eyes at me. 

“Oh, that face you make when you’re angry is hilarious, Buttercup,” I smirk.

She cocks her head to the side before grabbing two balloons, “Oh, you’re on, Karnstein.”

I also grab two and stand my ground, “Bring it, Hollis.”

 

She dashes off and ducks behind the four-wheeler and nails me with a balloon. Red spills down my shirt and I realize I’m an open target. I run and hide behind a canvas as I peek around it. I see the honey blonde hair has been pulled up into a ponytail and I feel my jaw drop slightly because wow. I shake the thoughts out of my head because Laura means war right now. I throw a balloon high up into the air and I miss her, but it splatters her a bit from landing on the ground. She throws another in my direction but it hits the canvas. 

She’s out of balloons now and I run over to get a better aim at her but when I go to throw it, she’s no longer behind the four-wheeler. I feel something hit my back and I turn sharply to see her hovering over the trash can and throwing as many as she can. My eyes go wide at seeing her in this environment, but I kind of love it. I run back to the canvases and take one off to use as a shield. I feel the balloons splattering on the canvas and I make my way towards her. She’s all out of balloons in the bin and runs to the other and proceeds to continue her assault. I still have my one balloon left and I feel the firing has ceased from Laura. I slowly lower the canvas to see her chest heaving and a small smirk on her face. And holy fuck does she look hot. I can think of other ways I’d like to see her look at me just like this… Stop it Karnstein, this isn’t over… yet.

I keep the canvas in my hand where the balloon is hiding as I walk over to her, “Think you won, Cupcake?”

She crosses her arms, smiling triumphantly, “I believe so. And seeing as all the balloons are gone, I think it’s safe to say I-” 

*SPLAT!*

I smirk and fold my arms, coping her earlier action, “You were saying?”

She squints her eyes at me before laughing and clutching her stomach. She’s laughing so hard she lays on the grass and continues laughing. I chuckle too and sit criss-cross near her and we ride out the waves of giggles. I stop laughing before she does and I love the way she laughs. It’s so light and full of joy. It is like music to my ears to hear that laugh. And even though these clothes will probably need to be thrown out, and I’m not even sure I accomplished anything pertaining to my assignment, I’d do it all again just for this outcome. She lets out a sigh of happiness and says something that makes my heart drop.

“This is the best birthday ever.”

_Oh fuck._

***

After we got back from the woods, Laura says she going to go home and that she’ll return my paint clothes at a later time. She leaves in her truck and I immediately go into plan mode. _Doesn't Laura have any birthday plans? Earlier at the library, she said she was going to have a lazy night until I invited her to help me… Why wouldn’t her dad plan something for her? Is he working? Whatever the reason, no one deserves to spend their birthday alone._ I grab my phone and call Laf.

“Sup, Karnstein?”

“Hey Laf, what are you and Perry doing right now?”

“Nothing, we were waiting around until later tonight for game night. What’s up?”

I sigh, “I was just hanging out with Laura,” I hear a snicker on the phone and I give them a look even though they can’t see me, “Anyways. Today is her birthday and no one is doing anything for it. And I thought we should invite her to game night and you know, also have a small party for her?”

Laf continues to giggle before I hear a smack and Perry’s voice comes over the phone, “Hi Carmilla, I think that’s a great idea! I actually have some party decorations in my attic somewhere. We can come over and decorate your room for the party!” I can hear Laf in the background as I’m talking to Perry, “You sure you don’t like her, Karnstein?” I hear them tease. I just roll my eyes, even though they can’t see me. 

“That would be great! See you guys in a little bit.” I end the call and call another number.

“Hello, Great American Cookie Company, this is Natalie speaking.”

“Hi Natalie, is it possible to get a cookie cake in about,” I glance at my clock, “4 hours?”

“Yes ma’am, anything you want on the cake specifically?”

I smirk and tell Natalie what I want on the cake and hang up the phone. I go hop in my shower because I am still covered in paint from earlier. As I am scrubbing my face to get this paint off of me, I smirk and think back to my day with Laura. I know I’m falling for her and need to tell her eventually, but I don’t want to lose her. She’s truly amazing and has such a beautiful soul. After thoroughly making sure all the paint is off my body and out of my hair, I slip on a cut off shirt and some shorts before Laf and Perry show up. Racing into the house, I see Perry and Laf had been let in by Mattie. Mattie is glowing with her pregnancy and looking quite happy, lately. 

Inside the house, I see Laf hanging streamers and Perry being her perfectionist-self telling Laf where to put the streamers. I go to the kitchen to go find Mattie and hear Laf say, “I’ve already had to reposition this streamer three times, already.” I giggle to myself when I see Mattie sitting at the kitchen table by herself. 

“Hey, Mattie. Thank you, again for letting me surprise Laura with a last minute birthday party. I honestly had no clue it was her birthday.”

 

“It’s really no trouble at all, Carmcake. Speaking of cake, your nieces are wanting me to ask you to save them a piece of cake,” she says as she rubs her belly. I roll my eyes and groan and reluctantly agree, even though she knows how much I love cookie cake. 

Once everything is set up, I tell everyone that I’m going to get dressed. Laf just smirks at me and Perry is too engaged talking with Mattie about the babies to even acknowledge I said anything. I send a quick text to Laura and ask her if she can come over for game night with Perry and Laf and she agrees. A smile crosses my face as I realize that we are about to surprise her with a birthday party. Get a load of yourself, Karnstein. It’s just Laura. I go to my closet to find my best black shirt and my black leather pants. I sit on the edge of my bed and focus on my breathing for a bit. _Inhale 2, 3, 4. Hold 2, 3, 4. Exhale 2, 3, 4. Hold 2, 3, 4._ And repeat the process until my nerves have calmed down. I just really want this to be special for her. Everyone deserves a good birthday. 

My phone vibrates and it’s Laura saying she’s on her way. Great, the nerves came right back. I sigh and walk down the stairs and wait on the porch steps for her to arrive. I hear tires on gravel and then I see her truck pull up and park in the grass next to Laf’s car. She gets out and walks over wearing blue jeans and a comfy looking sweater that has an H over a star. She smiles and bites her lip when she sees me and I stand up and meet her in the middle. 

“What’s on your sweater?”

She glances down and then looks back at me, “Oh, it’s the Houston Astros baseball team logo!” 

I smirk, “But, don’t you know that the Toronto Blue Jays are the best, cupcake?”

She rolls her eyes and playfully pushes me, “Oh hush.”

I snicker and nudge her shoulder with mine and nod my head towards the house. “Before game night, I want to introduce you to my sister and brother, if that’s alright.” 

Laura blushes slightly and nods, “I would love to meet them.” 

I walk backward slightly and she follows until we get to the steps and I walk forward. I open the door and lead her inside to the kitchen when I hear her gasp softly behind me. I turn around and wring my hands together and have a shy grin on my face. Behind me is all the streamers and a banner that says ‘Happy Birthday!’ as well as Laf, Perry, Mattie, and Ryan with silly birthday hats on and all smiling at Laura. I watch Laura’s face and the sheer happiness radiating from her lets me know that she loves it. She looks at me with tears in her eyes, 

“You did all of this? For me?”

I nod and blush, “Of course I did.”

She steps forward and wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. I relax and hug her waist. She pulls backs and smiles at me before walking over to everyone and saying hello as well as thank you. I walk over to Mattie and Ryan as Laura just finished talking to Laf and Perry. 

“Laura, this is my sister Mattie and her husband Ryan. Most of the time you’ll just hear me refer to him as my brother.”

“Hi!” Laura squeeks out as she shakes Mattie’s hand and then Ryan’s. 

“We have heard a lot about you!” Ryan exclaims, making me groan slightly. 

Laura just smirks at me and she continues to talk to my brother. I walk over to Laf and Perry and wrap my arms around their shoulders, “Thanks again, guys. I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.”

Laf scoffs, “Oh please, Karnstein. You would have done this and more, even alone.”

“LaFontaine! Be nice!” Perry reprimands them. 

I just roll my eyes and smile anyway. I see Laura shyly walk towards the cardboard box that has the cookie cake inside and she glances at me as if asking if she can see it. I smile at her and nod my head and she lifts the top off to reveal the cake. I hear her laugh loudly and she shakes her head, “You would get me this!” 

I laugh out loud too and everyone else goes over to look at the cookie cake. On the cake is a giant frosting cupcake with the words ‘Happy Birthday, Cupcake!’ around it. Ryan and Mattie look over at with confusion on their faces and Laf and Perry simply giggle and rolls their eyes.

***

After the excessive amount of cake we consumed, ( _when I say ‘we’, I mean me_ ) Laf, Perry, Laura and myself went up to my room to actually participate in game night. Laf was telling Laura the various amounts of games we play and how we usually play a certain type of game a week. This week was video game week and since it was Laura’s birthday, she got to decide the console as well as the game.

Laura plopped down in front of my entertainment center and scanned over my consoles for the one she wanted. She made a funny face at one and pointed to it, 

“I’ve never seen this one before, so I chose this one!”

I look over to see it’s actually my favorite console, the Nintendo 64. I smirk and raise an eyebrow, “Are you sure about that?” 

She furrows her eyebrows, “Uh yeah, my birthday, my choice.”

I laugh and shake my head and pull out the container filled with the N64 games. She picks through the games and takes out one and hands it to me. She handed me ‘Pokemon Stadium.’ She has got to be kidding. I laugh more and pop it into the console and hand her a controller. 

“This is typically a two player game so we’ll have to team up.” 

“Oo! I get Hollis!” Laf screams and scoots over to Laura and bumps their shoulder to hers. 

I groan and pout, “Fine.”

Laf leans over and whispers in Laura’s ear, “Hey, you know how this game works, right?”

Laura leans back over and whispers, “Nope!”

I snicker and start up the game.

***

Needless to say, Perry and I won. Laf was getting so frustrated that Laura kept picking bad moves, but Laura didn’t have a care in the world, just laughing and having the best time. It was cute to see her try though, especially having no knowledge of the game or how typings work. Maybe one day I’ll teach her.

It was getting late and Laf and Perry left not too long ago, but Laura was determined she’d beat me at one game tonight. I keep telling her that I own all the games, grew up with all these games, and have beaten all these games, but she won’t give up. 

“I think I’m gonna win this time, Carm!” 

“There’s no way that’s happening, cupcake.”

She is in first place in Mario Kart and it is the last lap. I’m not far behind her and I see her turn too wide and I cut in front. Smirking, I get ready to gloat once again when a red shell hits my kart and she zooms past me and finishes first.

“OH MY GOD. YES. FUCK YES!” 

Laura jumps up screaming and starts doing a little dance and I can’t even try to be broody as I start giggling as she dances on. I stand up and clap my hands for her and she smiles at me.

“I told you Carm! I could just feel it!” 

“I’m proud of you, Laura.”

She stops her dance and looks at me funny. I look back at her confused.

“You called me Laura.”

“Well, that is your name.”

“Yeah but, you’ve never called me Laura.”

I shake my head, “I did once, the last time we were at Kirsch’s party.”

She shakes her head, “I don’t remember that.”

I smile softly and shrug, “Well, do you not want me to call you Laura?”

“No, I like it. It sounds… I can’t even think of how to word it, but I like it.” She blushes.

I bite my lip and chuckle softly. She glances over at the clock on my dresser and sighs.

“As much as I don’t want to, I think I probably need to go home. It’s almost midnight.”

I frown and gesture to my room, “You’re more than welcome to sleep here cupcake. You can take my bed and I’ll take my couch.” 

Now it was her turn to bit her lip, “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out more than I already have.”

I shake my head and grab her hand in mine, “You could never put me out.” 

She blushes but sighs happily and nods, “Do you have any sleeping pants I can wear? Jeans aren’t that comfortable to sleep in.” She giggles. 

I smile and head over to my dresser and pull out the only clean sweatpants I have and hand them to her. She thanks me and goes into my bathroom to change. _Laura Hollis is sleeping over at your house. LAURA HOLLIS. Fuck fuck fuck._ My anxiety spikes a bit because I’m not sure how to act now because she’s staying. Granted, it was my idea but now I’m not prepared. I swallow as she reemerges wearing her sweater still and my sweatpants but has her jeans and undershirt folded and she sets them on my dresser. I grab my sleeping clothes and excuse myself to change. I changed into an oversized t-shirt and some basketball shorts and pull my hair up into a ponytail. I pop my head back in my room and offer Laura a toothbrush. She joins me in the bathroom and we brush our teeth together. It’s a little awkward at first but then I booped her nose and she giggles and bumps her hip into mine as we finish up brushing our teeth. She pulls her hair up into a bun and I make up the couch for myself. 

I see her get settled onto the right side of my bed, near the AC and snuggles herself in. I smile to myself as I go to turn off the light. 

“Wait!”

I stop and look over at her concerned and she pulls the covers up to her face. I walk over to her and sit on the edge of the bed.

“Yes, cupcake?”

I can feel she’s wiggling her feet and she starts stammering, “Just, thank you so much for today. For all of it. For the tutoring, for inviting me to help with your art project, for the impromptu paint fight, for the birthday surprise, for game night, for letting me stay over…” She sits up in the bed facing me and keeps going, “Nobody has ever done something so kind for me before and I haven’t had an enjoyable birthday in so long and this one was definitely the best birthday ever and I just-”

I place a finger to her lips and she looks at me confused. I smile softly at her and tuck a stray hair behind her ear, “It was a pleasure, Laura. I would happily do it again.”

She looks at me and bites her lip. She places her hand on my cheek and I lean into the touch and close my eyes softly. I feel her other hand on my other cheek and I open my eyes to see her looking at me with such fire. I bring my hand up to hers and stroke my thumb back and forth over hers. I slowly lean in and she meets me halfway and our lips touch in a light kiss. Our lips move together slowly, savory. She pulls back and leans her forehead on mine. 

“Woah,” she breathes out. 

I just look at her and lean in to kiss her again. She kisses me back, a bit harder this time than our original kiss. I could get drunk off of kissing Laura Hollis. We both pull back this time and she starts giggling. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“You and me both, cupcake,” I sigh happily.

She grins and pulls away from me and snuggles herself back into my bed. I’m stunned slightly before chuckling and shaking my head as I get up to go turn the light off. I pull the cord for the light and the room is dark. I go to get in my makeshift bed before I hear Laura say, 

“Carm… You don’t have to sleep on the couch.”

“Oh thank god.” 

I climb into my bed and feel Laura take my hand in hers. She moves closer to me and lays her head on my shoulder and I tilt my head to touch hers. She sighs and nudges my cheek with her nose. I giggle and turn my head towards her and she kisses me again. I sigh happily into the kiss and she pulls away, resuming her previous position.

“Goodnight, Carm.” 

“Goodnight, Laura. Happy birthday.”

I place a soft kiss on her head and she snuggles into me again and I feel her drift off to sleep quick. My heart is racing a mile a minute and I can’t help but let the biggest smile appear on my face. November 21st, you’re gonna be a hard day to beat.


End file.
